V 




Accession No. \ 



Finding No. 





0 




THE STORY -'^^'^'lir^^J 

OF \. 



MONT BLANC. 



By ALBBET, SMITH. 




NEW YORK: 
G. P. P U T N A M & CO., 10 PARK PLACE. 



1 8 5 3. 



i §6 3 «t 



f^' fniklfSFEIt 

69 
APR 4 1946 

Serial Recmu ui vision 
TiM Llbrtnr Off Congf«t 

G^>y • 



PRINTED HY 

i.i.iN AM» nu;)TH::ic^, 'JO Xortli William St., N. T. 



5 ^Htatitftt. 



TO 

AKTHUE SMITH, ESQ. 

My deah Aethue, 

You alone know all tlie home anxieties un- 
der whicL. the Ascent was made, the results carried 
out, and this book compiled. And therefore it gives 
me sincere pleasure to dedicate it to yon, no less 
in acknowledgment of the years we have lived and 
worked together without a word, on either side, of 
the most transient anger, than in recognition of 
those general good qualities which have placed you 
in the rare position of a man who has not an 
enemy in the world. 

Your affectionate brother, 

Albeet Smith. 



NOTICE. 



THOSE of my readers who may be fortunate enough to 
light upon a copy of Mr. Auldjo's narrative — for it is 
now out of print — will find a valuable series of maps and 
plans, illustrating every subject and place of local interest 
at Chamouni. Mr. Murray's " Handbook" has an excellent 
sketch of the chain of Mont Blanc from the Brevent ; and 
Mr. Bogue's " Guide to Switzerland and Savoy" is very 
minute and correct in all its Geneva and Chamouni details. 
I would strongly recommend to the tourist a little book sold 
at Geneva and Chamouni, called " Geneva and its Environs." 
It is written, I believe, by a gentleman named Prior, who re- 
sided some years in the neighborhood of Chamouni, and was 
connected with some mining undertakings in the adjoining 
valleys. Keller^s singularly faithful Map of Switzerland is 
indisputable ; and a cheap and excellently-abridged edition 
of De Saussure can be bought at most of the libraries at 
Geneva. 

I can confidently recommend the Hotel de la Couronne, 
as a comfortable, moderate, and well-conducted establishment. 
Young men need not mind sleeping at the top of the house ; 
besides, it practises their legs for the Brevent and Jardin, to 
say nothing of the Grands Mulcts. 

The guides at Chamouni are now re-organized, and are 
obliged to go out with travellers in their turn. The tourist 



vi 



Notice. 



will be pleased to get Jean Tairraz {natitraliste) ; J eau 
Tairraz, of Les Pres ; Gedeon Balmat; Francois Favret, of 
the Felerins ; and J ean Carrier. But they are all such ex- 
cellent fellows, that it is difficult to choose between them ; 
and the Balmats, Cachats, Devouassouds, and Couttets, are 
equally to be relied upon. In the event of illness, the visitor 
may entrust himself with confidence to Dr. Michon, a very 
kind-hearted and intelligent man. There is a clever little 
boy running about the village, named Michel Bos^onnay, to 
whom a franc a day is a fortune. He is not big enough to 
carry anything, but he speaks excellent French, and is very 
well informed about the localities. Julie, or Euphrasie, at 
the Pelerins, will know his habitat. Kehrli in the village, 
has by far the best assortment of woodwork ; and a wooden 
case of Chamouni honey should by no means be forgotten. 
It is very delicious. 

The most direct route to Chamouni, where time and 
money are objects, is by Folkestone, Boulogne, Paris, 
Chalons-sur-Saone, Lyons, and G-eneva. Mont Blanc can 
be reached, by adapting tides, trains, and times, in fifty-six 
hours, from London, in this manner. Supposing that the 
excellent tidal arrangements of the South-eastern Railway 
are studied, London may be left at six o'clock on Monday 
morning, and the traveller will arrive in Paris about seven 
in the evening. Taking a cab at once to the Paris and 
Dijon terminus, he will be in time to catch the mail train 
leaving at eight p.m., which will put him down at Chalons 
about four in the morning of Tuesday. A boat starts along 
the Soane at five, touching at Macon, and reaching Lyons, 
about noon. Here he can remain until six in the evening 
with plenty of time for a bath, dinner, &c., and then, start- 
ing in the diligence — the Berlines^^^ I think, are the quick- 
est — will arrive at Geneva at six on Wednesday morning. 



Notice. 



vii 



Should there be no very great rush of people, he will find a place 
in the conveyances which leave for Chamouni in an hour. 
In the afternoon he will reach Sallenches, beyond which the 
road is not practicable for heavy carriages. ^ Chars are in 
waiting, and he may sit down to his dinner, looking out at 
the sunset on Mont Blanc, on the third day of his departure 
from London. Of course I only recommend this route to 
those who have youth and health, and are much pressed for 
time. The actual expenses of the transit are — 

Francs. 

London to Folkestone (first class) . . . . . 25 
Folkestone to Boulogne (saloon) . , . . 12 

Boulogne to Paris (first class) 38 

Paris to Chalons (ditto) 40 

Chalons to Lyons (steamer) 5 

Lyons to Geneva (interieure) 25 

Geneva to Chamouni (voiture) . . . , .20 

Total . . . .165 

These fares will, of course, vary from time to time, but 
never more than a few francs. By taking the second-class 
seats of the railways, fore-part of the steamer, and banquettes 
of the diligencies, it may be done for a much less sum ; but 
on a very long, contimious journey, the cheapest places do 
not pay, since the fatigue is doubled. The tourist should 
remember, above all things, to get the visee of the Sardinian 
consul in London, before starting, or he will be sent back at 
Annemasse — the frontier of Savoy — to Geneva. 

Should the traveller intend, however, to make a more ex- 
tended tour, the railway from Paris to Strasburg, and so on 
to Bale, offers peculiar advantages. By this line, Switzer- 
land is brought within twenty six hours of London ; and an 
admirable arrangement is in course of perfection, flscursion 
tickets, available for six weeks, will be granted, allowing the 



viii 



Notice. 



holder to stop as long as he pleases, within that time, at 
Boulogne. Paris. Nancy, and Strasburg. 

The expenses of a couple of tourists keeping together need 
not exceed fifteen shillings each per diem. This will include 
evemjt.hing — even to such few moderate souvenirs of the lo- 
calities as they may choose to buy. A knowledge of French 
may be reckoned as saving a third of the travelling outlay, 
and should, at the present time, above all other languages, 
be acquired : at least by those who have to work their own 
way through the world. The Channel once crossed, there is 
no comparison between the positions of one traveller who 
can chat with the conducteur, or the foreigner by his side in 
the banquette or at the table (Thote^ and of another who can 
put Old Dan Tucker" into marvellous Latin or Greek 
verses, but stumbles in his inquiries as to roads, food, time, 
or expenses. 

On leaving Chamouni. at the Martigny end of the valley, 
the Tete Noire is the finest pass. Entering it from that 
direction, perhaps the Col de Balme view is the greatest sur- 
prise. You have your first view of Mount Blanc," as a 
gentleman, named Furguson, calls it, in a correction of By- 
ron's celebrated lines, and indeed everywhere, in a book he 
has lately done" on Switzerland. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTOEY 5 

CHAPTER IL 

THE EAELY HISTOEY OF OHAMOUNI 39 

CHAPTER HI. 

THE VISIT OF MESSES. POCOCKE AND WINDHAM . . .49 

CHAPTER IV. 

DE SAUSSUEE « 66 

CHAPTER V. 

OF THE FIEST ADVENTUEEES ON MONT ELANO . . .72 

CHAPTER YI. 

THE FIEST ASCENT OF MONT BLANO 79 



X 



Contents. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

PAGE 

DE SAUSSTTEE YANQUISHES MONT BLANO . . . .90 

CHAPTER Vm. 

DE. HAMEL's fatal ATTEMPT 102 

CHAPTER IX. 

SUCCESSIYE ASCENTS OF MONT BLANO — CHAMOTJNI — A DAT 

ON THE* GLACIEES 125 

CHAPTER X. 

THE AIJTHOE's ASCENT IN 1851 149 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE NIGHT BIYOUAO IN THE SNOW 167 

CHAPTER Xn. 

THE NIGHT MAECH ON THE GEAND PLATEAU THE MTJE 

DE LA COTE — YICTOEY 178 

CHAPTER Xni. 

COMING DOWN 198 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CONCLUDING EEMAEK8 . . . . . . .206 



THE STORY OF MONT BLANC. 



WENTY-SEYEN years ago— when cMldren's 



books were rare presents, and were so prized, and 
read, and read again, until the yery position of the 
paragraphs was known by heart — had a little volume 
given to me at the Soho bazaar, called " The Peasants 
of Ohamouni," which told, in a very truthful manner, 
the sad story of Dr. Hamel's fatal attempt to reach the 
summit of Mont Blanc in 1820. I dare say that it has 
long been out of print ; but I have still my own old 
copy by me, and I find it was published by Baldwin, 
Cradock, and Joy, in 1823. 

My ^lotions of the Alps at that time were very lim- 
ited. "We had a rise near our town of Ohertsey, called 
St. Anne's Hill, from which it was fabled that the dome 
of St. Paul's had once been seen with a telescope, at a 
distance of some sixteen or seventeen miles, as the crow 



CHAPTER I. 



IJSrTEODUCTORY. 




6 



The Story of 3Ioxt Blanc. 



flcTNT ; and its summit was the only high ground I had 
ever stood upon. Knowing no more than this, the 
little book, which I have said had a great air of truth 
about it, made a deep impression on me ; I do not 
think that " The Pilgrim's Progress" stood in higher 
favor. And this impression lasted from year to year. 
Always devouring the details of any work that touch- 
ed upon the subject, I at length got a very fair idea, 
topographical and general, of the Alps. A kind friend 
gave me an old four- volume edition of " De Saussure 
and my earliest efforts in French were endeavors to 
translate this work. I devoured the adventures of 
Captain Sherwill and Dr. Clarke in the magazines of 
our local institution ; and finally I got up a small 
moving panorama of the horrors pertaining to Mont 
Blanc from Mr. Auldjo's narrative — ^the best of all 
that I have read ; and this I so painted up and exag- 
gerated in my enthusiasm, that my little sister — who 
was my only audience, but a most admirable one, for 
she cared not how often I exhibited — would become 
quite pale with fright. 

Time went on, and in 1838 I was entered as a pupil 
to the Hotel Dieu, at Paris. My first love of the Alps 
had not faded ; and when the vacances came in Sep- 
tember, I started from Paris for Chamouni, with an- 
other equally humbly-appointed traveller, late assist- 
ant-surgeon in the 11th Hussars. 



Introductory. 



7 



As medical students, it is scarcely necessary to state 
that our means were exceedingly limited — we were 
compelled to manage our expenses, thougli living in 
the Quartier Latin, But autumn Avas getting on, and 
the breaking up of the schools was arriving. Paris 
would then be very dull, and the court-yard of Mes^ 
sageries Roy ales suggested such enviable journeys, as 
the diligence of&ces were labelled to Geneva, Vienna, 
Rome, St. Petersburgh, and Constantinople even, that 
standing, so to speak, on the high road to everywhere, 
the temptation to try and reach the Alps was too 
great to be resisted. And so, with great pains, col- 
lecting twelve pounds a-piece, which was to last us 
about five weeks, and which we carried about us, en- 
tirely in five-franc pieces, chiefly stuffed into a leathern 
belt round our waists ; buying two old soldier's knap- 
sacks at three francs each, and two pairs of hob-nailed 
shoes at five and a half, off we started to get as far as 
we could in the time, and trust to chance for whatever 
turned up. 

If there is anything more delightful than travelling 
with plenty of money, it is certainly making a journey 
of pleasure with very little — provided always that 
health and spirits are good, and that one can find a 
companion similarly positioned. Circumstances and 
necessities throw you out of beaten tracks of proceed- 
ing, and make you acquainted with odd folks and ad- 



8 The Story OF Mont Blanc. 

ventures : not being bound b}^ any conventional laws 
of travelling, yon are more independent to wander 
wherever you please ; and above all, there is little 
after-regret at the prospect of overbalancing the pleas- 
ure derived from the trip by the anticipation of winter 
retrenchment, to make up for the expenses thereby 
incurred. 

It may not be uninteresting to reproduce so much 
of the diary kept at the time as relates to Chamouni. 
When I scribbled it down, I had no notion that 1 should 
ever become an author. I have preferred giving it 
word for word as written ; and it begins as follows : — 

Friday^ September 21. — Having a prejudice in favor 
of Friday, inasmuch as everything I have begun or 
accomplished on that day has usually turned out well, 
we agreed to start from Paris that morning. There 
was, fortunately, opposition on the road to Geneva, 
and the diligences were running very cheap, a journey 
of seventy-eight successive hours, — ^. e. from 8 o'clock 
on Friday morning until 2 P.M. on the following Mon- 
day, — for two pounds. We made a good breakfast at 
our old cafe in the Rue M. le Prince, before we started, 
and got the cook to boil us a dozen eggs very hard. 
We also took a large bottle — a litre — of vin ordinaire^ 
and a leathern cup that folded up and went into the 
pocket. In a flat bottle, that we could tuck into the 
side of the knapsack, we had also some brandy. The 



Introductory . 



9 



beginning of the journey was not lively. It ponred 
with rain, which beat into the banquette^ and compelled 
ns to keep the black curtains closed. This lasted until 
we got to Melun, where the diligence stopped for 
lunch. We took advantage of the halt to run about 
the town and look at 'the place, making our meal^ 
when we started again, from our stores, in addition to 
some pears and a " brick" of bread more than two 
feet long, bought in the town. The passengers paid 
three francs each for their dejeuner : ours did not cost 
ten sous. At Montereau, at the junction of the Seine 
and Yonne, we got down at the relai and ran on, by 
which means we saw in the market-place some crimi- 
nals exposed on a platform, with their names and 
crimes inscribed over their heads. None of the other 
passengers saw this exhibition : indeed it was curious 
to notice that two English people in the coupe drew 
down the blinds on account of the sun, and when 
they did not do this they were asleep. At Sens, where 
we arrived about seven, the passengers dined at the 
great hotel : four francs each. We went over to a 
cabaret which the postilion told us about, and had hot 
roast veal, omelette, bread, butter, salad, wine, and 
brandy for twenty -four sous each. As night came on, 
we crept under the tarpaulin roof of the diligence, 
stacked all the luggage on each side, collected all the 

straw, and slept at full length tolerably well. 

1# 



10 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Saturday^ 22d. — As morning broke we found our- 
selves amongst the vineyards, whicli came down to tlie 
edge of the road. They are not nearly so pretty as 
our own hop-gardens ; something like them at a dis- 
tance, but not higher than rasp berry -bushes. At Ton- 
nerre, where they stopped to breakfast, we ran on 
again, with our bread and eggs in our pockets, and got 
plenty of grapes for nothing ; for we were now ap- 
proaching the Cote d'Or — ^the great wine country of 
France. We walked two or three miles before the 
diligence overtook us ; and, what was worth every- 
thing, had a bathe in a little river, which freshened us 
up immensely. The people were all dozing ag^in 
when the diligence came up ; and the conducteur 
thought we had lost the way. "We had plenty of 
walking that day, for the country was hilly, and, what 
appeared the most singular, there was no down hill to 
it. Nothing but vineyards everywhere, which are 
great things for untravelled poets to sing of, but sadly 
monotonous in a landscape. At Semur — a very beau- 
tiful town by the side of a deep valley — ^the passengers 
dined. We bought a pie at a confectioner's, and re- 
plenished our wine-bottle. The conducteur turned out 
a capital fellow, and messed with us ; and after all 
there was enough left for breakfast the following 
morning. We got to Dijon about two in the morn- 
ing, and made friends at the relai for a jug of hot 



Introductory. 



water to mix with our brandy. After this we crept 
under the roof again and slept as before ; getting quite 
used to the jing ! jing ! jing !" of the horses' bells. 

Sunday^ 23(i. — The day broke very fine, and the 
whole country was an uninterrupted tract of vineyards. 
We stopped at Dole to breakfast, and also to change 
diligences, where we found a little ca/e, the landlord 
of which was very civil, and showed us all about the 
town^ after we had washed in the fountain at the 
market-place, to the great delight of a party of girls, 
who lent us a huge bit of soap and some towels. We 
never saw so many pretty women as at this Dole, nor 
so many wooden shoes — in fact, nobody seemed anx- 
ious to sell anything else, whatever kind of shop they 
kept. We bought a bottle of wine — Burgundy," 
recollect — for threepence. When we got back to the 
hotel we saw the two coupe passengers awake for the 
first time. One of them complained of having been 
charged three francs and a half for a fowl that must 
have been roasted over and over again, and some 
questionable fish. We recommended him to buy a 
pie, but he said he did not like to — it looked so. Then 
they wanted to see the Public Walk with a view of 
the Alps, and the Cathedral, and other things we had 
told them of ; but just then the order was given to 
take their places, so we still appeared to be the gainers. 
The new diligence had a perfect paradise of banqueites 



12 TheStoryofMontBlanc, 

— very large, indeed, with no seat, but full of straw, so 
that we could lie down at full length, with our heads 
out in front. We invited the conducieur to dinner 
again, with the driver, from German sausage and cold 
duck, — a perfect festival laid in at Dole. In return, 
the driver, who lived at Polignv, made us sup with 
him when we got there. We had haricot beans, soup, 
and thick slices of mutton broiled ; and waited so long 
at it that the passengers got impatient, but they could 
not go on till the conducieur gave the word. Then we 
began slowly to chmb the Jura, and this crawling pace 
was kept up all night. 

Monday^ 24:th. — We got out to walk early, taking 
short cuts between the zigzag roads up the mountain, 
and got to Les Eousses, on the summit of the Jura, 
about seven o'clock, where we had breakfast literally 
in the clouds. The conducieur told us, if we left him 
to pay he would get everything for half-price, which 
he did. From Les Eousses we began to descend. 
The road is beautifully hard and smooth, winding in 
all directions, with little stones all the way to mark 
it from the precipice. A sudden turn of the road 
brought to sight the famous view described by Eous- 
seau, and so often quoted. The whole lake of Geneva, 
beautifully blue, could be seen many hundred feet 
below us, with the Alps on the other side, their sum- 
mits only showing above the clouds ; and the country, 



Introductory. 



13 



like a colored map, at our feet. The passengers in the 
interieure saw nothing of this, one of their windows 
looking against the mountain, and the other down 
the precipice ; in the rotonde they could only look out 
behind them, as through the door of an omnibiis ; 
and in the coupe they had pulled the blinds down, 
because the morning sun shot right through the win- 
dows: so that we had the best of it again. From 
the foot of the mountain to Geneva the road was at 
the edge of the lake, like Barnes Terrace with the other 
side of the Thames taken away, and very English in 
appearance. The conducteur sent us to a clean sec- 
ond-rate inn, with a restaurant attached to it, so that 
we only paid for what we wanted, and had it when we 
pleased. After dinner we saw to our passports our- 
selves, in preference to paying a commissioner ; watch- 
ed the sun set on Mont Blanc, — a glorious sight, 
which the other passengers lost, as they were just then 
at the table d''h6te of the expensive Hotel des Bergues, 
- — and then went to bed at seven, sheets and blankets 
proving quite a novelty. When we settled our ac- 
counts at night, we found our expenses of travelling 
and feeding, from Paris to bed time at Geneva, came 
to two pounds twelve and sixpence each- — about a 
quarter of what they would have been had we gone in 
the coupe and lived conventionally. 

Tuesday^ 2btK — Up at half-past five, on the road to 



14 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Chamoiini, ^yitli our knapsacks on our backs, -wTiicli 
dragged on us at first, but we soon got used to tliem. 
Walked to Bonne-\alle before breakfast, wkicli consist- 
ed of a roll and some peackes bought in the market- 
place. The difference of the mone}^ in Savoj made a 
remarkable bargain of this purchase, which we never 
could understand. We gave a ten-sous piece, and 
got half-a-dozen peaches and twelve sous in exchange 
for it. Here we found a sort of lumber-wagon going 
to Cluses, on which the owner allowed us to ride, and 
a mile or two on the other side of this village — where 
most of the Geneva watches are made — we made a bar- 
gain with a return char-a-banc^ for two francs, to go on 
to St. Martin. 

The road was very lovely, although on compara- 
tively a small scale, — hills, cascades, houses, and tor- 
rents on each side, like the Swiss part of the Colos- 
seum, continued for miles ; mth Mont Blanc in the 
distance all the way. At Arpenaz some cannon were 
fired to produce an echo ; which is very wonderful. 
The owner asked us if we would like to hear it, but as 
he wanted more money for the exhibition than we 
thought proper to give, we waited until a car full of 
travellers who were not far behind us came up, who 
directly ordered the exhibition, by which we were the 
gainers, as there was no charge for listening. At 
St. Martin we left the char-a-banc^ and walked on to 



Introductory. 



15 



the baths of St. Gervais. On our way we met a hearty- 
old man, who told us his name was Victor Tairraz, — 
brother of a Mont Blanc guide, — and that he kept the 
Hotel de Londres at Chamouni. We observed, that 
being only students we could not afford a great hotel, 
on which he said if we did not mind sleeping right 
up at the top of the house, we should have our beds 
at twenty-five sous each. We next bargained for 
breakfast at a franc and a half, and a repast" — ^he 
did not say dinner — at two francs. All this was very 
well, and we decided on visiting him. We got to St. 
Gervais just at dusk : it is very like a large Shanklin 
Chine, with the baths at the end. We had for sup- 
per rice, milk, fowls, potatoes, wine, and fruit ; and 
some old ladies and gentlemen and a priest were of 
the party, as well as two enormous St. Bernard dogs. 
Before we had finished, two young men came in — an 
Edinburgh M.D., and a Frenchman, who said he was 
going all over Europe with two shirts and a pocket- 
comb. We agreed to travel together next day ; and 
then paid our bills, which came to five francs a-piece, 
and astonished us very much, especially the French- 
man, who harangued the host for half an hour, and 
made him take a franc from each. 

Wednesday^ 26th. — Started for Chamouni at six 
o'clock, on a mountain-road, very fatiguing, but mag- 
nificently wild and beautiful. The Frenchman was a 



16 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

capital fellow, of unflagging spirits, never out of breath, 
(lie had not much to carry though,) and climbed up 
and down the rocks after plants and insects with great 
agility ; in fact, we agreed that he must have been 
the original Acrobat of the Alps" we had heard of 
at Astley's. At Servoz we met a Swiss Boy, the first 
we had seen : he was very dirty and lubberly, had a 
large goitre^ and was half-witted. The Alpine maidens, 
also, we encountered, put us more in mind of Poor 
Law Unions than Annuals and Ballads : indeed, the 
Swiss villagers may be classed with Troubadours, 
Minstrel Pages, Shepherdesses; Eovers' Brides, and 
other fabulous pets of small poets and vocalists. We 
made a halt at Servoz, where we each bought a long 
pole, with a chamois' horn at the top, of the man at 
the inn. We also had breakfast there, for which he 
sent on our knapsacks in some one else's char to 
Chamouni, where we arrived at half-past one — as soon 
as those who had ridden, and not half so much bump- 
ed about and shaken. Our bed-room, being high, had 
a far better view over the valley than any of the 
others ; and our repast" appeared just as good as the 
tahle-dliote dinner, with the advantage of having it to 
ourselves. In the afternoon we went out in the fields, 
and sat on the flax-bundles, buying some bread and 
honey for supper, and finishing our cognac. Mont 
Blanc does not look to be so very high ivom Cham- 



Introductory. 



17 



ouni, by reason of everything around it being on a 
gigantic scale ; in fact, tbe Frenchman offered to 
wager that he would walk up it in a day. Certainly, 
if anybody could have done it, he would have been 
the man. 

Thursday^ 21 th. — ^We started at seven for the Mer 
de Glace — one of the lions " of Ohamouni. Having 
been told the night before that the road was very 
dangerous, and that we must pay for a guide, as well 
as have a mule a-piece on account of the distance, we 
were debating what we should do, when we saw a 
party start from the hotels, and determined that there 
could be no harm in following them. 

We then saw that the difficulty did not lie in finding 
the path, but in missing it, as there was but one ; that 
it was no more dangerous than the ascent to the tower 
at Rosherville, or the Dane John at Canterbury ; and 
that, to lose all enjoyment of the journey, the best 
plan was to get on a mule. This is the case at most 
of the Swiss show-places. The story that the Mer de 
Glace resembles the sea suddenly frozen in a storm, is 
all nonsense. From Montanvert it looks rather like a 
magnified white ploughed field. We went down and 
crossed completely over to the other side. The ice of 
the glaciers is not clear like that in ponds, but opaque 
and full of air-bubbles ; in fact, it is a conglomeration 
of snow and hail-stones. 



18 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

We returned to the Chalet on Montanvert very mncli 
fagged, and ate so much bread and cheese and honey, 
that we did not want any dinner, which was another 
economy, so we dawdled about on the mountain, and 
saw the people come and go, which was very amusing. 
In the course of four hours we met some one from 
ahnost every nation on the earth, and, with scarcely an 
exception, each one told the rest that they could see 
something in his country quite as good. Of these com- 
paring minds, the most daring were the Irish and the 
Americans. On our journey home, our jolly French 
friend was never once out of breath. He sang, hal- 
looed, heaved large stones over the precipices, made 
short cute down from one path to the other, and 
showed no symptoms of the slightest fatigue. We 
could not get 'him to sit down once — ^he said it tired 
him so ! We got safely to Chamouni ; strolled about 
the village ; were invited by an Englishman to have 
some champagne with him, because it was his birth- 
day, and then went to bed. Chamouni is the nicest 
place in Europe. 

Friday^ 28th, — This was an important day with us, 
inasmuch as it was a general wash." Our two com- 
panions went back to St. Martin, and D and I 

started on foot at half-past five for Martigny. Our 
worthy old host gave us a letter to the landlord of the 
Hotel de la Tour, begging him to treat us as students 



Introductory. 



19 



in his charges. "We bargained for some hard-boiled 
eggs at one of the cottages, waiting whilst they Avere 
cooked, and then marched on to the Teie Noire Pass, 
where we halted for breakfast at a little tavern, perched 
up high on the mountain like an eyrie, where they 
found us wine and a loaf. At the top of the Forclaz 
— the magnificent mountain barrier between Chamouni 
and the Vallais — ^^^e halted to bathe, in a natural basin, 
off the road, where a block of granite had stopped up 
the torrent, and here we determined to wash our 
things, which w^as a laughable affair enough. We 
spread them out on a flat stone, and knocked them 
with another, as we had seen the washerwomen do at 
the fountains, and then put them to dry in the hot sun. 
They were not particularly well got up," to be sure, 
but very clean. This was a good notion, for we must 
have w^aited two or three days to have had them done 
properly, and on the mountains shirt-fronts are not the 
chief objects of curiosity. During this halt we fin- 
ished our eggs, and drank kirschwasser and water, and 
got to Martigny at six o'clock, where our host's letter 
was of use, for we had a famous hot supper for two 
francs each. Martigny is a wretched place — no shops 
nor anything else — so we went to bed about eight. 

Saturday^ 29ih, — ^Left Martigny at six, to ascend the 
Great St. Bernard on foot — ^thirty odd miles, and a rise 
of seven or eight thousand feet. The morning was 



20 The Stcp.y of Mont Blanc. 

very depressing — cold, mist, and rain ; so we spread 
our Macintosli capes over our heads, knapsacks and all. 
This cleared up about ten, and we arrived at Orsieres 
to breakfast, mucli a-bead of some people who bad left 
wben we did, witb mules and. cJiar-d-lancs. At Liddes, 
a village bigber up, we entered tbe inn for some wine, 
wben two Englisbmen and an old Swiss joined us. 
We arrived at St. Pierre — tbe last bamlet up tbe 
mountain — about four, wben it began to rain again, 
and so continued until nigbt, without ceasing. Our 
journey now became no joke. Tbe footpath was 
streaming witb water from tbe hills ; our clothes soaked 
through and through ; our knapsacks dragging on us 
very heavily ; and the rain gradually turning to sleet 
and then to snow, whilst we had bterall}^ icicles in our 
mustachios. Our companions rebeved us of our knap- 
sacks occasionally, in turn ; and one of them, a major 
in a bne regiment, walked behind to keep us up to tbe 
mark. He told us be had generally found that bis 
soldiers went through bard marches better in rain than 
in fine weather. We came to a dismal little solitary 
but called the Canteen, at five, where we got some 
brand}^, and then went on, past tbe Kefuge and dead- 
bouse, when it got nearly dark, and tbe road very dif- 
ficult to trace, as tbe water bad carried away a foot- 
bridge, which caused us to go out of our way. 

At last we were deligbted to see tbe convent bgbts 



Introductory. 



21 



up a-Lead, as a very little more would have finislied 
us ; indeed, had we been by ourselves we never should 
have arrived. I was dead beat, and tumbled down 
over my knapsack, when I got through the gate, as I 
was leaving it in the hall; but I soon recovered. 
When we came into the salle des voyageurs^ for supper, 
we found a dozen people assembled. It being a fast- 
day, we had soup, pancakes, potatoes, and beans, with 
stewed prunes and cheese. We enjoyed the meal very 
much, and a roaring fire looked cheerful enough. Af- 
ter supper, we drew round and chatted, and then had 
some music, for there was a piano, the natural keys of 
which were black, and the flats and sharps white. We 
were not sorry, at half-past nine, to get to bed, under 
eider-down quilts. The rooms had double windows, 
and were tolerably warm considering our elevation. 

Sunday^ SOth, — A heavy fall of snow in the night. 
We came down to breakfast about half-past six, but 
could scarcely walk, our ankles had been so knocked 
about and twisted the day before, so we begged leave 
to stay another day. Everybody left about ten for 
Martigny, and as there was a solemnity of peasants 
in the saUsj we were put in the refectory. It was a 
very dreary day ; the snow was falling out of doors, 
and the dogs wandering about and barking. At two, 
we had dinner in the following order : soup, beef, po- 
tatoes, stewed rabbits flavored with cinnamon, roast 



22 TheStoryofMontBlanc. 

veal, cheese, nuts, and figs. We laughed heartily at 
the way the dinner was served. It came up a trap* 
door into a box, into which the monk dived to get it, 
so that at times we only saw his legs. After dinner 
some young monks came and talked to us, telling us 
many anecdotes about the dogs, but assuring us, at the 
same time, that all we hear about them generally is 
untrue. When they left for vespers, some peasants 
entered and began to play at cards and Chinese puz- 
zles. More towards evening, some English travellers 
came up from Aosta ; and at eight o'clock we all sup- 
ped together with the monks in the refectory : a novel 
sight. They were very merry, and we thought it only 
wanted somebody to sing " Hovv^ they laughed, ha ! 
ha!" to make the scene perfect. 

Monday^ October 1. — Started for Italy — it sounded 
very grand — at seven, having put our contributions 
into the tronc of the church, since nothing is demanded 
at the Grreat St. Bernard. You are in Italy ten min- 
utes after leaving the convent. There was a dense fog 
on the mountains ; but now and then, suddenly clear- 
ing away, it showed the white Alps, with the blue 
sky beyond them : a most magnificent effect. At 
the frontier village of St. Bemy our knapsacks were 
searched, and the man was going to take my pistols 
away, but we gave him a pocket-knife, and he passed 
them. As we got near the Vallee d'Aoust, the luxuri- 



Introductory. 



23 



ance of tlie country was wonderful. The vineyards 
are here much, more picturesque than in France, the 
vines being raised, on treUises about ten feet high, 
forming beautiful arbors. We got plenty of grapes 
for nothing, and most delicious ones. On arriving at 
Aosta, about two, a dirty -looking fellow offered to take 
us to a good hotel. We followed him, and he led us 
a long rambling walk, quite away from the town, until 
we turned back, firmly believing that he meant to get 
us to some lonely place, and then, with his fellows, to 
rob us. Aosta is a miserable place, and the Hotel de 
la Couronne dear and dirty. There are some Eoman 
remains, a great deal of frightfal goitre^ some poor 
shops, and all the church clocks strike the hours twice 
over. We were very uncertain, for the first time, 
where to go next. We could not get a map of Italy, 
anywhere, and did not know the country at all. At 
last we were told that a diligence was to start for 
Ivrea at three the next morning, and we settled to go 
by that. We had our shoes mended for ten sous each ; 
and bought some bread in long sticks, the thickness of 
a cane, with which we marched away to the vineyards 
and made a repast. The landlord of the inn charged 
us so much, that we cut all the cold meat into sand- 
wiches and stowed them in our knapsacks, and filled 
our flask with the wine we left. 

Tuesday^ 2d, — ^At half-past two in the morning, we 



24 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

went down to the inn-yard, not having taken our 
clothes off, but thrown ourselves on the beds just as 
we were. Oar vehicle was something between a 
hackney-coach and a wicker-basket, and our com- 
panions people of the humblest grade, who evidently 
lived upon garlic. As soon as it got daylight, we 
found that the road was highly romantic, being in a 
long valle}^, with an uninterrupted tract of chestnut- 
trees and luxuriant vineyards for thirty miles. In 
some jolaces the grapes were trained in festoons from 
post to post, until they reached the tops of the moun- 
tains, on terraces, like large flights of steps. The 
diligence was desperately slow, for we w^ere thirteen 
hours doing fifteen leagues ; but the charge ludicrously 
small for the journey. As we approached Ivrea, the 
country became flat, which was rather a rehef after 
so much mountain scenery ; our eyes being once more 
kept on a level. We bought forty peaches for a penny, 
on entering Ivrea, where we stopped at the Albergo 
della Posta, a very fair inn. Evidently few English 
came this road, for the host was surprised to see us ; 
but much delighted, as his brother-in-law, the notary, 
had once been to London, and w^ould be most gratified 
to visit us. So he was sent for, and turned out a 
capital fellow ; joined us at supper, and would stand 
all sorts of bottles of wines. D — was so delighted at 
meeting a real notary- — a character he had only known 



Introductory. 



25 



at the Opera — ^that lie would keep singing bits from 
the Sonnambnla," and going throiigli every kind of 
^'business" attached to the role. At night, the host 
came up and joined ns, and we showed him how to 
make pnnch, after he had produced as a great rarity a 
bottle of rum. This new beverage he drank until he 
got intoxicated, when we put him to bed. He appear- 
ed to be literally the maitre d'^hotel^ for we saw nobody 
else about. The notary then poured all the rest of the 
punch into a bottle, to take to a friend of his, high in 
the police ; and would not hear of our paying for 
anything. He said, when he was in London, a gen- 
tleman, whose name was perfectly unintelligible with 
his pronunciation, had kept him for three days, and 
he should be happy for life now that he had returned 
the hospitality. We insisted, however, on his accept- 
ing an English razor ; and this perfected his felicity. 

Wednesday, 3d — Our friend came back to us at 
day -break, and walked some way out of the town with 
us on the road to Vercella. The day was exceedingly 
fine, and the sky all that we had imagined of Italy. 
We halted at one of the villages, and bought a pound 
of bread in long sticks, and then, as usual, gathered 
the rest of our breakfast from the vineyards, always 
thinking of Eabelais, where he says, For here it is to 
be remarked, that it is a celestial food to eat for 
breakfast hot j£resh cakes with grapes, especially the 

2 



26 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

frail clusters, tlie muscadines," &c. Passing tlirougli 
Viverone and Popolo, we bought some chestnuts for 
lunch at Cavaglia,, where it was market-day. On leav- 
ing Cavaglia the country assumed a different appear- 
ance, being very level, with no vines, and very little 
foliage generally, and extraordinarily long, straight 
roads, with little stones at the sides. The people 
were making hay and drying Indian com all the way 
along, and we went and sat with some of these, and 
had some wine. We began to flag very much as we 
got near Vercella, and the last two miles could scarcely 
get along, having walked with our knapsacks in a 
broiling sun more than eleven leagues. We were so 
worn and dirty, that at the first inn they refused to 
receive us, on which we went over to the AVoergo dei 
ire where everything was so very dirty that it was 
comically remarkable. The rooms were filthy, but the 
ceilings all painted with gaudy frescos, and the waiter 
a small person, like a pantomime imp. We went to 
bed at seven, and fell asleep directly. 

Thursday^ ^th, — The imp awoke us at five o'clock, 
insisting that we had engaged a voiturier to take us to 
Novara ; and we were obliged to have all the people 
in the hotel up, and institute a general row, before we 
could convince them to the contrary. However, we 
got up and set off, somewhat stiff with yesterday's 
march, and out of tune altogether. We had breakfast 



Introductory. 



27 



at a hovel in a village, where the man, we made sure, 
was an innkeeper by day and a brigand by night ; 
but he only charged us a franc each for wine, eggs, 
and bread. Everybody and everything was as dirty 
as yesterday's. From being fagged, we made very 
short stages, getting to ISTovara about three, at the 
entrance of which town we were, beset by crowds of 
vettuTini wanting to take us on to Milan, but we agreed 
to walk. At the Albergo del Giardino we bargained 
for a dinner, bed, and breakfast: they asked nine 
francs, and took five. No vara is a handsome fortified 
town, with beautifully-built houses and good shops, 
at which we laid in our stores for the next day — a 
cold fowl, bread, and chestnuts. At the inn they gave 
us a bottle of new wine, from a vehicle like a water- 
cart : it was like very sweet cider, and not unpleas- 
ant. The waiters had ear-rings, and only spoke 
Italian, but looked very good-tempered and anxious 
to please, so we got on pretty well. We walked 
about the town at night, admiring the sky, which 
was like burnished gold, and rose-colored, in streaks, 
and then to bed. 

Friday^ 5th, — Up at half-past five, and on our way 
to Milan in the misty gray morning. Walked two 
leagues before breakfast, and then laying out our 
stores under some thorny acacias, had breakfast, with 
a quantity of lizards about the road — very harmless, 



28 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



pretty little things, who picked up a crumb now and 
then when thrown in their way. Afterwards an old 
priest walked a mile or two with us, and gave us two 
little medals, which he said would keep us from ague, 
as well as recommended us to a cheap hotel at Milan. 
We got there about four, and went to the Alhergo delle 
Croce Bianca, Having made ourselves a little decent, 
we bought a map, and started to stroll about the town, 
and see the cathedral and churches. Eeturned and 
dined in the inn-yard, which had galleries like those 
in the Borough, but covered with vines. Vetturini 
were arriving and departing, women singing, guests 
at different tables drinking and playing games with 
their fingers, something like Buck, buck, how many 
horns do I hold up ?" and the evening so beautifully 
calm, that the flame of the candles never wavered. 
We were very happy : could scarcely believe that we 
had got so far away from home ; and pleased to find 
our money holding out capitally, when we examined 
our belts on retiring to bed. 

So ended the Alpine portion of our tour ; and I am 
not altogether without hopes that this plain account 
of it, tracking each day's work, and giving a tolerably 
fair notion of each day's expense, may induce others 
to make it when the autumn comes round again. We 
saw a great deal in this little journey — enough to talk 



Introductory. 



29 



and think about for many winters' evenings after- 
wards ; and the few souvenirs of the different places 
we passed through are still amongst my most treas- 
ured curiosities. 

The journey should, of course, be undertaken by 
two persons, — not only for the sake of society, but for 
economy ; as many little expenses do for both, which 
would have to be paid just the same for one ; and the 
three most important items in the knapsack should be 
a knife, a ball of string, and some sticking-plaster. A 
soldier's old knapsack can always be procured in Paris, 
and a common round tin candlebox in a ticking cover 
should be strapped to the top, in place of the carton 
fixed there. It is useful to hold the toilet things only 
wanted for a night, since, when the knapsack becomes 
fully packed, undoing it, and doing it up again, may 
be a matter of some trouble. The dandy oil-skin and 
Mackintosh knapsacks sold at the trunk-shops in Lon- 
don are utterly useless. 

Possibly we took the trip when the autumn was a 
little too advanced. But the comparatively short days 
were still long enough for the quantity of walking re- 
quired in each ; and the vintage compensated for a 
great deal. The best detail of the road is to be found 
in Murray's and Bogue's Handbooks ;" all the other 
Guides" are catchpenny affairs, copied from one an- 
other, and almost legendary in their descriptions, or 



30 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

filled up with spun-out pictures of scenery, wlien the 
originals are before you. These things are generally 
as uninteresting to read as a newspaper account of the 
sheriff's liveries, or the re-decoration of a theatre ; 
and might always give up their space, with advantage, 
for something better. 

Eeports of continental disturbances should never 
keep any one at home. Whatever may be going on, 
the traveller, depend upon it, will almost always find 
a good table Whole at the hotels, a look of welcome in 
the shops, and a comfortable place in the diligence, or 
railway in the cities ; and on the mountains the glacier 
will be equally wonderful and the valley equally pic- 
turesque, whether a republic, or a monarchy, or 
nothing at all, characterizes the country at the time. 

Pedestrians must not expect to find everything 
couleur de rose. Trivial annoyances of every descrip- 
tion will be constantly starting up, but if temper is 
lost, they become ten times worse : a firm resolve 
should be taken to laugh at everything, with the cer- 
tainty that, however vexatious the occurrence may be 
at the time, it will only serve to talk about the more 
merrily when we get home again. After I was robbed 
by the brigands in 1840 — with an account of which I 
made my debut in the literary world — I was left all 
the next day — a wet Sunday — at Ferrara, without any 
of my clothes, or travelling nick-nacks and minor 



Introductory. 



31 



comforts, in the dreary hotel of a gloomy city, with, 
no notion of how I should get back to England. I 
have found myself in Venice without a franc, from 
arriving there before the poste restante letters I ex- 
pected. I have been kept back by passports ; shut up 
all night in a dirty corps de garde ; and even been " in- 
vited" by the procureur du Eoi to attend at the Palais 
de Justice, and justify certain heedless acts against 
order committed in my student days ; but when all 
these troubles were gone and past, I would not but 
have had them happen for any consideration. In the 
reminiscences of them I have found a great proportion 
of the pleasures of travelling. 

Looking back to this happy time, every incident on 
our little journey is as vividly impressed on my mind 
as though only a fortnight instead of fourteen years 
had elapsed since I made it. I remember old Victor 
Tairraz's printed card of his hotel prices, with a view 
of the establishment at the top of it, in which every 
possible peak of the Mont Blanc chain that could be 
selected from all points of the compass was collected 
into one aspect, supposed to be the view from all the 
bed-room windows of the establishment, in front, at 
the back, and on either side. I was annoyed at this 
card ; for I could not reconcile, at that golden time, 
my early dreams of the valley of Chamouni, with the 
ordinary business of a Star-and-Glarter-like hotel. 



32 The Stop^y of Mont Blanc. 

I remember, too, "what a niglit of expectation I 
passed, reJflecting that on tlie early morrow I should 
see Mont Blanc with my own practical ej'es. When 
I got ont of my bed the next morning — I cannot say 

awoke," for I do not think I slept more than I should 
have done in the third class of a long night train — I 
went to the vdndow ; and the first view I had of the 
Mont Blanc range burst on me suddenly, through the 
mist — ^that ondrous breath-checking coup d^oeiL which 
we all must rave about when we have seen it for the 
first time — which we so sneer at others for doing when 
it has become famihar to us. Every step I took that 
day on the road was as on a joui^ney to fairy -land. 
Places which I afterwards looked upon as mere com- 
mon halts for travellers — Servoz, with its little inn, 
and Cabinet d'^Histoire Naturelle^ where I bought my 
baton ; the montets above Pont Pelissier ; the huts at 
Les Ouches, Avhere I got some milk — were all en- 
chanted localities. And w^hen, passing the last steep, 
as the valley of Chamouni opens far away to the left, 
the glittering rocky advanced post of the Glacier des 
Bossons came sjoarkling from the curve, I scarcely 
dared to look at it. Conscious that it was before me, 
some strange impulse turned my eyes towards any 
other objects — unimportant rocks and trees, or cattle 
on the high pasturage — -as though I feared to look at 
it. I never could understand this coquetting with ex- 



Introductory. 



33 



citement until years afterwards, when a young autlior 
told me a variety of tlie same feeling had seized him 
as he first saw a notice of his first book in a news- 
paper. He read the paragraphs above and below and 
about it ; but only glanced at the important one, as 
though striving constantly to renew the vivid pleasure 
he had felt upon first seeing it. The whole of that 
sojourn at Chamonni passed like a dream. With the 
first light I used to watch the summit of Mont Blanc 
from my room ; and at sunset I always went into the 
fields behind the church to see the rosy light creep up 
it, higher and higher, until it stood once more — cold, 
clear, mocking the darkening peaks below it — against 
the sky. From long study of plans, and models, and 
narratives, I could trace every step of the route ; and 
I do believe, if any stalwart companion had proposed 
it, with the recollection of what Jaques Balmat and 
Dr. Paccard had done alone, I should have been mad 
enough to have started on their traces. I was in 
hopes, from the settled weather, that some one would 
attempt the ascent whilst I was at Chamouni, when I 
should immediately have offered myself as a volunteer 
or porter to accompany him ; but no one came forward 
until the day after my departure, and then a lady, 
Mademoiselle Henriette d'Angeville, succeeded in 
reaching the top, together with the landlord of the 

2* 



34 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Hotel Eoyal, and a PolisTi gentleman, who was stop- 
ping in the house. 

AYhen I came home to England I had many other 
things to think about. With the very hard work 
which the medical practice attached to a large country 
union required, I had little time for other employ- 
ment. One dull evening, however, I routed out my 
old panorama, and as our little town was entirely oc- 
cupied at the time with the formation of a literary and 
scientific institution, I thought I could make a gTand 
lecture about the Alps. Availing myself of every 
half-hour I could spare, I copied all my pictures on a 
comparatively large scale — about three feet high — with 
such daring lights and shadows, and streaks of sunset, 
that I have since trembled at my temerity as I looked 
at them ; and then contriving some simple mechanism 
with a carpenter, to make them roll on, I selected the 
most interesting parts of Mr. Auldjo's narrative, and 
with a few interpolations of my own produced a lec- 
ture which, in the town, was considered quite a hit," 
for the people had seen incandescent charcoal burnt in 
bottles of oxygen, and heard the physiology of the 
eye explained by diagrams, until any novelty was sure 
to succeed. For two or three years, mth my Alps in 
a box, I went round to various hterary institutions. 
The inhabitants of Eichmond, Brentford, Guildford, 
Staines. Hammersmith, Southwark, and other places, 



Introductory. 



35 



were respectively enliglitened Tipon the theory of 
glaciers and the dangers of the Grand Plateau. I re- 
call these first efforts of a showman — for such they 
really were — with great pleasure. I recollect how my 
brother and I used to drive onr four-wheeled chaise 
across the country, with Mont Blanc on the back seat, 
and how we were received, usually with the mistrust 
attached to wandering professors generally, by the 
man who swept out the Town Hall, or the Athenseum, 
or wherever the institution might be located. As a 
rule, the Athenaeums did not remind one of the Acrop- 
olis; they were situated up dirty lanes, and some- 
times attached to public-houses, and were used, in the 
intervals of oxygen and the physiology of the eye, for 
tea festivals and infant schools. I remember well the 
^'committee-room" — a sort of condemned cell, in 
which the final ten minutes before appearing on the 
platform were spent, with its melancholy decanter of 
water and tumbler for the lecture, and plate of mixed 
biscuits and bottle of Marsala afterwards. I recollect, 
too, how the heat of my lamps would unsolder those 
above them, producing twilight and oil avalanches at 
the wrong time ; and how my brother held a piece of 
wax-candle end behind the moon on the Grand Mu- 
lcts (which always got applauded) ; and how the dili- 
gence, which went across a bridge, would sometimes 
tumble over. There are souvenirs of far greater im- 



36 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

port tliat I would tlirow over before tliose old Alpine 
memories. 

No matter wliy, in tlie following years I changed 
mv lancet into a steel jjen, and took up the trade of 
aiitliorsbip. My love of tlie Alps still remained tlie 
same ; and from association alone, I translated the 
French drama La Grace de Dieu^ under the name of 
Tlie Pearl of Chajnouni^ for one of the London minor 
theatres. I Ijrought forward all mv old views, and 
made the directors get up the scenery as true to na- 
ture as could be expected in an English playhouse, 
where a belief in the unreal is the great creed ; and 
then I was in the habit of sitting in a dark corner 
of the boxes, night after night, and wondering what 
the audience thought of The yalley and ^^Uage of 
Chamouni, as seen from the Col de Balme pass, with 
Mont Blanc in the distance:'' so ran the bill. I be- 
lieve, as far as they were concerned, I might have 
called it Snowdon or Ben Xe^is with equal force ; 
but I knew it was correct, and was satisfied. 

In the ensuing seven or eight years I always went 
over to Savoy whenever I had three weeks to spare in 
the autumn. Gradually the guides came to look upon 
me as an habitut of the valley ; indeed I almost regard 
Chamouni now as a second home. It had been a first 
love ; and amidst all the wear and tear, and fast-burn- 
ing excitement of a hterary man's life at the present 



Introductory. 



37 



time, and the more vivid attractions of Paris, Naples, 
and the brilliant East, I followed the old proverb, and 
always returned to ''^ mes premiers amours ^ And in 
the autumn of 1851, I was fortunate enough to carry 
out the desire of nearly thirty years, and to stand on 
the summit of Mont Blanc. 

I mention these almost trifling circumstances to show 
that my attachment to Chamouni was no whim of a 
season ; that my venture arose from no mere craving 
for temporary notoriety ; and that those who chose 
to attack me, in ptint, on my return from its achieve- 
ment, in such a wanton and perfectly uncalled-for 
manner, knew nothing at all about the matter. 

From childhood, then, I had taken a deep interest 
in Mont Blanc and Chamouni. With no earthly in- 
tention of ever publishing them, I had, from time to 
time, collected a mass of notes and details connected 
with the localities in question ; lately, I have found, 
to my infinite delight, that a large proportion of the 
public has appeared to be, with me, interested in the 
subject. I have, therefore, arranged my papers in 
regular order ; and in the hope that the volume may 
find its way in the autumn, from our bustling, smoky, 
dusty London to my beloved Chamouni — that its pages 
may be chequered by the dancing sunlight coming 
through the forest leaves of Chede and Servoz, or that 



38 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

it may be read to tlie music of the brawling Arve 
below, and tlie tinkling of tlie hundred cattle bells 
high np and away in the pastures of the Breven and 
Montanyert — I most cheerfully set about my task. 



CHAPTER 11. 



THE EAKLY HISTOEY OF CHAMOTJNI. 

P to the year A.D. 1741 very little was generally 



known about Chamouni. The sober and steady- 
going citizens of Geneva had long imagined that the 
dirty river which pollutes the bright blue of their ar- 
rowy Ehone arose from amidst some snow-covered 
mountains, whose tops they could see from their lakes ; 
and they imagined that one of these mountains must be 
very high indeed, because the sun's rays rested on it 
long after they had disappeared from the other peaks. 

But beyond this, they troubled their heads no fur- 
ther in the matter. The country people about Geneva 
had given the name of Les Montagues Maudites to the 
entire chain ; and a superstition was current amongst 
them that the curse of living amongst eternal snows 
was inflicted on the inhabitants of the region for their 
crimes. Yet the locality was a recognized one : for 
in an ancient map of Switzerland, annexed to a Latin 
copy I possess of the Itinera par Helvetiae Alpinas 




40 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Eegiones," by Jolianiies Scheuchzerus, bearing date 
1723, tlie course of tlie Arve is clearly given flowing 
by Chammuny ; but amongst tlie mountains . depicted 
tliere is no trace of the Mont Blanc chain. 

To the researches of Captain Markham Sherwill, 
who ascended Mont Blanc successfully in 1825, we 
owe the best account of the early history of Chamouni. 
The guide books, which all copied one another, pub- 
lished previously to his visit — and indeed subsequently, 
until Murray's Handbook set the matter right — de- 
scribed the valley of Chamouni as having been dis- 
covered by two English travellers. Dr. Pococke and Mr. 
Windham. To those gentlemen I shall allude at 
greater length presently. The village was called Le 
Prieure (the name by which it is still known to the 
country people), from the circumstance of a convent 
of Benedictines having been founded there at a re 
mote period. During one of his visits, Captain Sher- 
will heard, by chance, that a great many of the archives 
relating to the Priory were still preserved in an old 
trunk ; but that in all probability they had become 
illegible, partly from negligence and partly from age 
and dust. He obtained permission to examine the 
documents, and assisted by M. Paccard, a son of the 
Dr. Paccard who first gained the summit of Mont 
Blanc with Jacques Balmat in 1786, he discovered and 
arranged the venerable papers. Spiders and their 



The Early Histop^y of Chamouni. 41 

webs seemed for awMe to defy the intrusion of a 
stranger's eye, whilst the dust that covered the bundles 
of parchment appeared as old as the Priory itself. 
They were in less confusion than was to be expected, 
and most of them were drawn up in Latin, though 
some of a later date were written in the French 
language.^ 

The earliest paper was the original act for the foun- 
dation of the Priory, and was as follows : — 
In nomine Sanctaa et Individuse Trinitatis. 

" Ego Aymo, Comes Gebennensis, et filius mens 
Giroldus, damns et concedimus Domino Deo Salvatori 
nostro, et Sancto Michaeli Archangelo de Clusa, om- 
nem campum munitum, cum appenditiis suis, ex aqua 
quae vocatur Dionsa, et rupe qu^ yocatur alba, usque 
ad Balmas, sicut ex integro ad comitatum meum per- 
tinere videtur ; id est, terras, sylvas, alpes venationes, 
omnia placita et Banna ; et Monachi Deo et Archan- 
gelo, servientes, hoc totum habeant, et teneant, sine 
contradictione alicujus hominis, et nihil nobis nisi 
eleemosinas et orationes pro animabus nostris et paren- 
tum nostrorum retinentes. 

Ego Andreas, Comitis Capellanus, hanc carfcam 
praecepto ipsius Comitis scripsi et tradidi, feria 7^ luna;. 
Papa Urbano regnante." 

" At the foot of this deed is the seal of the Count 

* Historical Sketch, p. 12. 



42 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Aymon, in wliite wax ; and although, the act is with- 
out date, we know that, by the mention of Pope Ur- 
ban, it must have been executed during the reign of 
Urban the Second, who was Pope from the year 1088 
to 1099. We may therefore conclude, that the dona- 
tion of lands, and the foundation of the Priory, took 
place somewhere about the year 1090." 

Ex aqua Dionsa usque ad Balmas^^ is evidently from 
the Dioza — the river crossed on leaving Servoz — to the 
(Col de) Balm ; and from this document we also arrive 
at the derivation of the name of Chamouni. Campus 
raunitus^ or ^' fortified field/' — so termed from the im- 
pregnable barriers which the inaccessible mountains, 
glaciers, and aguilles raised about it — will give us, in 
French, Champ muni ; and so we have no great diflS.- 
culty in tracing the present name. 

" Soon after the first establishment of the Benedic- 
tines in the valley, many strangers came and settled 
near about the Priory, some for the purpose of daily 
labor, while others, under certain conditions, obtained 
a portion of a forest, to root up, clear, and bring the 
land into a state something like cultivation, thus per- 
mitting the cottager to hope for and calculate on an 
increase of prosperity. But these strangers, it appears, 
could not, under any pretence whatever, establish 
themselves in the valley without the permission of the 
Prior ; and for this simple reason — that the lands all 



The Early History of Chamouni. 43 

belonged to the Priory : those, however, to whom 
permission was granted, became, as it were, the prop- 
erty of the Prior, and were obliged strictly to obey his 
laws, and consider him as their sovereign. Thus the 
Prior, from a continual increase of settlers, found it 
necessary, from time to time, to issue new laws, which 
were never contested by the small social pact that 
seemed quiet and happy in the solitude of this secluded 
spot. 

^' One of the leading articles of this new code will 
at once show the power of the new chief. We give it 
in its own language : — ' Que si quelque personne, de 
quelle qualite qu'elle soit, vient a habiter ou demeurer 
dans ladite vallee, n'etant pas lige dudit Prieur et 
Prieure, et vouloir faire communaute avec lesdits 
hommes, elle doit subvenir et fournir aux esgances, 
charges et subsides desdits communiers et communaute, 
selon faculte : et si ladite personne refusoit de payer 
auxdits communiers, qu'elle seroit contrainte de sortir 
du lieu, avec ses biens, dans un mois, et quitter ladite 
vallee. Fait du 20 Janvier 1330.' 

^' The arrival of strangers at Chamouni at this early 
period must have been of no uncommon occurrence, 
or the Prior would not have thought it necessary thus 
to issue strict laws which applied solely to the new 
comers. 

'^Little occurred, during the remainder of the four- 



44 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

teenth century, of any public interest in this new rising 
little world, except a formal promise, sealed and sign- 
ed by tbe Abbot of Sallencbe, distant from Ohamouni 
about six leagues in a westerly direction, to observe all 
tlie privileges granted to, and all tlie laws promulgated 
by, the Prior. 

" We now come to the first visit made by the Bishop 
of Geneva to this extreme corner of his diocese, where 
he arrived as late as the 4th of October in the year ' 
1443. He was accompanied by the Abbot, his two 
officiating clerical attendants, and some menial persons. 
The visiting party performed the journey on foot. 
They remained several days at the Priory to repose ; 
and, after having visited this most secluded part of 
his diocese, the Bishop returned to Geneva by the 
way of Annecy, but by which road is not particularly 
mentioned. 

" The following act, bearing date Nov. 1530, signed 
by Philippe de Savoie, who was Due de Nemours and 
Comte de Geneve, proves that the population around 
the Priory had considerably augmented: for this 
Prince grants special leave to the inhabitants to hold 
a free fair twice in the year, on the 15th of June and 
on the last day of September, which are observed to 
this period. The act concludes thus : ^ Tous les mar- 
chands allants et venants avec leurs marchandises, sans 
estre aucunement empesches ny arrestcs pour debtes 



The Early History of Chamouni. 45 

ny pour autres clioses quelconques en quelle mani^re 
que ce soit. 

' Fait du 3^ Noyembre 1530. 

^ Signe Philippe.' 
In three years afterwards tlie same Prince granted 
permission to liold a public market at Chamouni every 
Thursday, which is also still in usage. 

Thus we find that early in the sixteenth century 
peculiar advantages were given to those persons who 
frequented the valley, and encouragement given to all 
comers and goers ; for we learn, by the above act of 
Philippe, they were even exempt from arrest or mo- 
lestation either for debt or any other misdemeanor. 

" Under the date of 1567 we find an ordonnance is- 
sued by the Supreme Court of Savoy, authorizing the 
Abbot of Sallenche and the Prior of Chamouni to 
build a bridge at their joint expense, over the Arve, 
near Servoz, ' wide enough for comers and goers on 
foot and on horseback, and for beasts laden with 
merchandize.' There is no reason to suppose that 
this bridge was built on any other spot than where 
the present one stands, known by the name of the 
^ Pont Pelissier^^ this being decidedly the most conve- 
nient place, the two sides of the river being of solid 
rock, while the passage for the waters is remarkably 
narrow. 

" The Chateau of St. Michel, the ruins of which we 



46 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

see situated on a monticule near the bridge, was in- 
habited at tlie date of the above ordonnance ; but the 
town of St. Denis had long been destroyed and swept 
away by the breaking up and discharge from a lake 
which had accumulated from ages unknown and which 
was in those days to be seen where the low meadows 
now are, between the foot of the rock on which the 
ruins of St. Michel stand, the village of Servoz, and 
the entrance to the romantic and unfrequented valley 
of Ohatelas, through which the waters burst forth, 
probably by the fall of some of the rocks that served 
as a dam to restrain and form the lake. There is a 
small hamlet distant from the road about a quarter of 
a mile, which bears the name of ' Lac,' and is built 
where the lake was formerly in its greatest expanse. 
Should the pedestrian pass through the valley of 
Chatelas, instead of pursuing the usual road by Servoz, 
he will see distinctly the remains of the aqueducts 
used for conveying water from the lake to the town of 
St. Denis. The foot-road that leads to this rugged 
passage passes close to the ruins of St. Michel, traverses 
a part of the low land where the lake was, and, after 
scrambling over some rocks, the pedestrian will arrive, 
if he follow the path to the right hand, at the Pont des 
Chevres ; but if he take the one to the left, he may 
visit the ruins of the aqueducts, and thus regain the 
high road that skirts the plain of Passy. 



The Early History of Chamouni. 47 

" July 30, 1606, tlie learned and remarkable divine, 
St. Frangois de Sales, arrived at Chamoiini in the dig- 
nity of Bishop of Geneva. 

It appears that about two months before his visit, 
which was included in a general visitation of this dio- 
cese, he wrote to the then Prior to know the extent of 
the parish, the number of inhabitants, their moral 
character, the occupations, and the commerce, if any, 
of the natives ; also the number of poor, and of those 
who were comparatively rich ; the proportion of catho- 
lics and heretics, the state of the church (the present 
one at Chamouni being already built, for we see over 
the great entrance the date of 1602), and desiring a 
general report of all that related to the Priory, the 
valley, and the church. Soon after receiving a full 
account and answer to all these questions, he laid his 
plan for his journey. 

" It would have been very desirable to have a copy 
of the report made by the Prior, but it was not among 
the archives, and most of those of this date were ma- 
terially injured by damp and vermin. 

" There are, however, some few details preserved of 
the visit of St. Frangois de Sales, drawn up in the 
form of a diary. It is therein stated that he was ac- 
companied by only two persons, he being, as his 
general history shows, a man of extreme modest de- 
meanor, and possessed no love of ostentation or show. 



48 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

He arrived at Cliamoiini on foot, and took up Ms 
abode in a cottage in the village, which exists to this 
day, and is perhaps the oldest house of the valley. 
Owing to the rugged footpath and rocks over which 
it appears he was obliged to pass, his hands and feet 
were bleeding and in a lacerated state. These diffi- 
culties probably presented themselves after passing the 
Pont Pelissier, where the path formerly followed the 
depth of the dark and gloomy ravine where the Arve 
is seen foaming to extricate itself from its rocky prison ; 
for the road did not then, as it does now, pass over 
* les montees,' in order to arrive by a more gradual 
ascent to the immediate valley of Ohamouni, near the 
village of les Ouches. 

" St. Frangois remained many days visiting the 
Priory, the poor, and the sick. He officiated in the 
parish church, gave his benediction to every class, and 
distributed alms where they were most required. On 
his departure from Ohamouni, he was accomp*anied by 
a crowd of persons, all eager to testify the high respect 
and admiration they entertained of his eminent quali- 
ties : at the moment of his separation from them, he 
delivered a short sermon on the highway, took his 
leave, and pursued his journey towards Sallenche." 



CHAPTER III. 



THE VISIT OF MESSES. POCOCKE AKD WINDHAM. 

rpHE Bishops of Geneva continued from time to time 
to visit the valley, but from 1650 nothing occurred 
of any public interest, until the excursion made by 
Dr. Pococke and Mr. Windham, in 1743. To those 
gentlemen we are indebted for the first practical infor- 
mation about the Valley of Chamouni. A rare old 
book is now before me, containing 

"An Account of the GLAOIERES or lOE ALPS in SAVOY, in 
Two Letters, one from an English Gentleman to his Friend 
at Genem ; the other from PETER MARTEL, Engineer, to 
the said English Gentleman. Illiistrated with a Map, and 
two Views of the Place, &c. As laid before the Royal So- 
ciety. LOiTDOiT, Printed for Peter Maetel, and sold by 
W. Meadows^ in Cornhill ; P. Yaillant^ in the Strand; G. 
Hawlcins^ between the Two Temple Gates ; R. Dodsley^ in 
Pall Mall; F. Pallaret^ against Catherine Street in the 
Strand ; and M. Cooper^ in Pater IToster Bow, MDOOXLIV. 
(Price One Shilling and Six-pence.)" 
3 



50 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



The letter was written to Mr. Arland, a celebrated 
painter at Geneva, and the author was no less a person 
than Mr. Windham himself. I have great pleasure in 
reproducing entire, this curious document. The ab- 
sence of any false coloring or exaggeration, which 
might have been excusable in such circumstances, is 
remarkable. 

Sib,— 

According to your Desire I send you an Account of our Jour- 
ney to the Glacieres. I shall give it you in the plainest Man- 
ner, without endeavouring to embellish it by any florid Descrip- 
tions, although the Beauty and Variety of the Situations and 
Prospects that we observed in this unfrequented Part of the 
"World, Tvould well deserve to be described by one, who, like you, 
join to so great a Skill in Painting so lively and Poetical an Im- 
agination ; but these not being my Talents, I will, as I said before, 
confine myself to the giving you a faithful Kelation of the Inci- 
dents of our Journey, and acquainting you with the Observations 
we made. I shaU add a few Hints, which may be useful to such 
as shall hereafter have the same Curiousity that we had, and who 
may perhaps have Advantages and Conveniences which we had 
not to make more accm-ate Observations. It is reall}- Pity that 
so great a Curiosity, and which lies so near you, should be so 
little known; for though Scheuc7izei\ in his Iter Alpinum^ de- 
scribes the Glacieres that are in the Canton of Berne^ yet they 
seem to me by his Description to be very different from those in 
Savoy. 

I had long had a great Desire to make this Excursion, but the 
Difficulty of getting Company had made me defer it : Luckily in 



Visit of Messp^s. Pococke and Windham. 51 

the montK oiJune^ last,* Dr. Pococlce arrived at Geneva from Ms 
Voyages into tlie Lemnt and Egyjpt^ which Countries he had 
visited with great Exactness. I mentioned to him this Curiosity, 
and my Desire to see it, and he who was far from fearing Hard- 
ships, expressing a hke Inclination, we immediately agreed to go 
there ; when some others of our Friends found a Party was made^ 
they likewise came into it, and I was commissioned to provide 
what was necessary for our setting out. 

As we were assured on all hands, that we should scarcely find 
any of the ISTecessaries of Life in those Parts^ we took with us 
Sumpter Horses, loaded with Provisions, and a Tent, which was 
of some use to us, though the terrible Description People had 
given us of the Country was much exaggerated. I had provided 
several Mathematical Instruments to take Heights, and make Ob- 
servations with, hoping that Mr. Williamson^ an able Mathema- 
tician, Governor to Lord Hadinton^ would have been of the 
Party ; but he declining it on account of the Fatigue which he 
fear'd he should not be able to support, I chose not to take the 
Trouble of carrying them, there being no Person in the Company 
so capable as he of making a proper use of them. 

We set out from Geneva the 19*^ of June^ IST. S. we weret Eight 
in Company, besides five Servants, all of us well arm'd, and our 
Baggage-Horses attending us, so that we had very much the Air 
of a Caravan, The first Day we went no farther than 
a Town about four Leagues distant from Geneva^ according to the 
way of reckoning there ; these four Leagues took us more than 

* The same who has lately published so accurate and ingenious an 
Account of his Travels. 

f Viz. Lord Hadinton, the Honourable Mr. Baillie his Brother, and 
Mess. Chetv)yndy Aldworth, Pococke^ Price^ Windham, and Stilling^ 
fleet. 



52 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



six Hours riding. This place is situated at the Foot of the 
Maule^ and close by the Yxiyqv Awe ; 'tis surrounded with beauti- 
ful Meadows and high Mountains, covered with Trees, which 
form all together a very dehghtful Situation. There is a very 
good Stone Bridge near the Town, but it had suffered in the late 
Innundation of the Arve^ which had carried away part of it. Our 
Inn was a tolerable one for Savoy as to every thing but Beds. 

The next day being the 20*^, we set out very early in the 
Morning, and passed the Arce ; our Road lay between that Eiver 
and the Mountains, all along which we were entertained with a 
Variety of fine Landskips. They reckon tAVO Leagues from Bon- 
neville to Cluse^ but we Avere three Hours and a half in going it. 

Olttse is situated in a narrow Pass between the Mountains, 
which almost meet in this place [leaving only room for the Arve^ 
which is thus hemm'd in for above a League together]. Before 
you come to Glme there is a kind of Hermitage, upon a Rock on 
the Right Hand, where we climb'd up in order to enjoy the Pros- 
pect, which is delicious ; after that we passed the Arve over a 
fine Stone Bridge, of one very large Arch, and continued our 
Journey for about an Hour and a half through a narrow Road, 
along the Arve^ between Rocks of prodigious Height, which 
look'd as if they had been split on purpose to give the River a 
Passage, ^s'ot to mention the Beauty of the Views all along, we 
were extremely entertained by continual Echoes, and the pro- 
digious rattling, caused by cracking a Whip, or firing a Pistol, 
which we repeated several Times. We saw Cascades on every 
Side, which fell from the Top of High Rocks into the Arve. There 
is one among the rest of singular Beauty, it is called the Naji 
d''Arpena^ 'tis a great Torrent, which falls from a very High 
Rock ; all the Company agreed it must be higher than Saleve, 
As for my Part, I will not pretend to decide about it, I however 



Visit of Messrs. Pococke and Windham. 53 

may venture to say, that the Cascade of Terni does not fall from 
near so great a Height; but then the Quantity of Water, when 
we saw it, was much less than at this last mentioned Place ; 
tho' the People of the Country assured us, that at certain times 
the "Water is much more abundant than it was then. 

After about three Hours riding from Cluse^ we came to Saint 
Mmtiri's Bridge, right against Salanthes^ which is on the other 
Side of the Arve, We did not care to go out of our Way into 
the Town ; ^but chose rather to encamp in a fine Meadow near 
the Bridge, in order to refresh ourselves. From thence we set 
out again on our Journey, and after four Hours riding through 
very bad Ways, being obliged to cross some dangerous Torrents, 
we arrived at a little Village called Servoz. Our Horses sulfered 
very much, being tied to Pickets all Night in the open Air for 
want of Stabling ; besides there was neither Oats, nor any other 
Forrage, but Grass fresh cut ; as for ourselves, we had brought 
all ITecessaries along with us, we were Avell enough off, except as 
to Beds, and that want was supplied by clean Straw in a Barn. 

From thence we set forward at break of Day, and passed the 
Arve once more over a very bad wooden Bridge, and after having 
climb'd over a steep Mountain, where we had no small Difficulty, 
with our Horses, their shoes coming off continually, and they 
often running the risque of tumbling into the Arve^ which run at 
the Bottom of the Kock, we came into a pleasant Valley, where 
we pass'd the Arve a fourth time over a Stone Bridge, and then 
first had a View of the Glacier es. We continued our Journey 
on to CJiamouny^ which is a Village upon the JTorth-side of the 
Atw^ in a Valley, where there is a Priory belonging to the 
Chapter of Salanches ; here we encamp'd, and while our Dinner 
was preparing, we inquired of the People of the Place about the 
Glacier e^. They shewed us at first the Ends of them which reach 



54 



The Story ar Mont Blanc. 



into the Yalley, and were tQ be seen from the Village ; the&e ap- 
peared only like white Rocks, or rather like immense Icicles^ 
made by Water running down the Mountain. This did not 
satisfy our Curiosity, and we thought we were come too far to 
be contented with so small a Matter ; we therefore strictly in- 
quired of the Peasants whether we could not by going up the 
Mountain discover something more worth our Notice. They told 
ns we might, but the greatest part of them represented the Thing 
as very difficult and laborious ; they told us no-body ever went 
there but those whose Business it was to search for Crystal, or to 
shoot Bouquetins and Chamois^ and that all the TraTeUers who 
had been to the Gladeres hitherto, had been satisfied with what 
we had already seen. 

The Prior of the Place was a good old Man, who shewed us 
many Civilities, and endeavored also to dissuade us ; there were 
others who represented the Thing as mighty easy ; but we perceiv- 
ed plainly, that they expected, that after we had bargained with 
them to be our Guides, we should soon tire and that they should 
earn their Money with little Trouble. However our Curiosity 
got the better of these Discouragements, and relying on our 
Strength and Pwesolution, we determined to attempt climbing the 
Mountain. TTe took with us several Peasants, some to be our 
Guides, and others to carry Wine and Provisions. These People 
were so much persuaded that we should never be able to go 
through with our Task, that they took with them Candles and 
Instruments to strike Fire, in case we should be overcome with 
Fatigue, and be obliged to spend the Night on the Mountain. In 
order to prevent those among us who were the most in wind, 
from fatiguing the rest, by pushing on too fast, we made the fol- 
lowing Pwules: That no one should go out of his Rank; That he 
who led the way should go a slow and even Pace : That who ever 



Visit of Messrs. Pococke and Windham. 55 

found himself fatigued, or out of Breath, might call for a Halt ; 
And lastly, that when ever we found a Spring we should drink 
some of our Wine mixed with Water, and fill up the Bottles, we 
had emptied, with Water, to serve us at other Halts where we 
should find none. These Precautions were so useful to us, that, 
perhaps, had we not observed them, the Peasants would not 
have been deceived in their Conjectures. 

We set out about Noon, the 22<* of June^ and crossed the Arve 
over a wooden Bridge. Most Maps place the Glacieres on the 
same side with Chamoigny^ but this is a Mistake. We were 
quickly at the Foot of the Mountain, and began to ascend by a 
very steep Path through a Wood of Firs and Larche Trees. We 
made many Halts to refresh ourselves, and take breath, but we 
kept on at a good Rate. After we had passed the Wood, we 
came to a kind of Meadow, full of large Stones, and pieces of 
Rocks, that were broke ofiT, and fallen down from the Mountain ; 
the Ascent was so steep that we were obliged sometimes to cling 
to them with our Hands, and make use of Sticks, with sharp 
Irons at the End, to support ourselves. Our Road lay slant 
Ways, and we had several Places to cross where the Amlanches 
of Snow were fallen, and had made terribl-e Havoc ; there was 
nothing to be seen but Trees torn up by the Roots, and large 
Stones, which seemed to lie without any Support ; every step we 
set, the Ground gave way, the snow which was mixed with it 
made us slip, and had it not been for our Staffs, and our Hands, 
we must many times have gone down the Precipice. We had 
an uninterrupted View quite to the Bottom of the Mountain, 
and the Steepness of the Descent, joined to the Height where we 
were, made a View terrible enough to make most People's 
Head's turn. In short, after climbing with great Labour for four 
Hours and three Quarters, we got to the Top of the Mountain ; 



56 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



from whence we had the Pleasure of beholding Objects of an ex- 
traordinary Nature. We were on the Top of a Mountain, 
which, as well as we could judge, was at least twice as high as 
Mount Saleve^ from thence we had a full View of the Glacier es, 
I own to you that I am extremely at a Loss how to give a right 
Idea of it ; as I know no one thing which I have ever seen that 
has the least Kesemblance to it. 

The Description which Travellers give of the Seas of Chreenland 
seems to come the nearest to it. You must imagine your Lake 
put in Agitation by a strong Wind, and frozen all at once, per- 
haps even that would not produce the same Appearance. 

The Glacieres consist of three large Yalleys, that form a kind of 
Y, the Tail reaches into the Val d^Aoste^ and the two Horns into 
the Valley of Chamoigny^ the Place where we ascended was be- 
tween them, from whence we saw plainly the Valley, which 
forms one of these Horns. 

I had unluckily left at Gliamoigny a pocket Compass, which I 
had carried with me, so that I could not well tell the Bearings as 
to its Situation ; but I believe it to be pretty nearly from North 
to South. These Valleys, although at the Top of a high Moun- 
tain, are surrounded with other Mountains ; the Tops of which 
being naked and craggy Rocks, shoot up immensely high ; some- 
thing resembling old GotMc Buildings or Ruines, nothing grows 
npon them, they are all the Year round covered with Snow ; and 
onr Guides assured us, that neither the Ghamois^ nor any Birds, 
ever went so high as the Top of them. 

Those who search after Crystal, go in the Month of Augmt to 
the Foot of these Rocks, and strike against them with Pick-axes ; 
if they hear them resound as if they were hollow, they work 
there, and opening the Rock, they find Caverns full of Crystalisa- 
tions. We should have been very glad to have gone there, but 



Visit. OF Messrs. Pococke and Windham. 57 

the Season was not enough advanced, the Snow not being yet 
sufficiently melted. As far as our Eye-siglit could reach, we saw 
nothing but this Valley ; the Height of the Kocks, which sur- 
rounded it, made it impossible for the Eye to judge exactly how 
wide it was ; but I imagine it must be near three Quarters of a 
League. Our Curiosity did not stop here, we were resolved to 
go down upon the Ice ; we had about four hundred Yards to go 
down, the Descent was excessively steep, and all of a dry crun> 
bling Earth, mixt with Gravel, and little loose Stones, which af- 
forded us no firm footing ; so that we went down partly falling, 
and partly sliding on our Hands and Knees. At length we got 
upon the Ice, w^here our Difficulty ceased, for that was extremely 
rough, and afforded us good footing ; we found in it an infinite 
number of Cracks, some we could step over, others were several 
Feet wide. These Cracks were so deep, that we could not even 
see to the Bottom ; those who go in search of Crystal are often 
lost in them, but their Bodies ai*e generally found again after 
some Days, perfectly well preserved. All our Guides assured us, 
that these Cracks change continually, and that the whole Glaciere 
has a kind of Motion. In going up the Mountain we often heard 
something like a Clap of Thunder, which, as we were informed 
by our Guides, was caused by fresh Cracks then making ; but as 
there were none made while we were upon the Ice, we could not 
determine whether it was that, or Avalanches of Snows, or per- 
haps Kocks falling; though since Travellers observe, that in 
Greenland the Ice cracks with a I^oise that resembles Thunder, 
it might very Avell be what our Guides told us. As in all Coun- 
tries of Ignorance People are extremely superstitious, they told 
us many strange Stories of Witches, &c. who cauie to play their 
Pranks upon the Glacieres^ and dance to the Sound of Instru- 
ments. We sliould have been surprised if we had not been cn- 

3* 



58 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



tertained in these Parts, with some such idle Legends. The 
Bouquetins go in Herds often to the Number of fifteen or sixteen 
upon the Ice, we saw none of them ; there were some Chamois 
which we shot at, hut at too great a Distance to do any Execu- 
tion. 

There is "Water continually issuing out of the Glacieres^ which 
the People look on as so very wholesome, that they say it may 
be drank of in any Quantities without Danger, even when one 
is hot with Exercise. 

The Sun shone very hot, and the Eeverberation of the Ice, and 
circumjacent Rocks, caused a great deal of thaw'd Water to lie 
in all the Cavities of the Ice ; but I fancy it freezes here con- 
stantly as soon as Wight comes on. 

Our Guides assured us, that, in the time of their Fathers, the 
Glaciere was but small, and that there was even a Passage thro' 
these Yalleys, by which they could go into the Vol d''Aoste in six 
Hours : But that the Glaciere was so much increased, that the 
Passage was then quite stopped up, and that it went on increas- 
ing every Year. 

"We found on the edge of the Glaciere several Pieces of Ice, 
which we took at first for Rocks, being as big as a House ; these 
were pieces quite separate from the Glaciere. It is diflacult to con- 
ceive how they came to be formed there. 

Having remained about half an Hour upon the Glaciere^ and 
having drank there in Ceremony Admiral Vernon'' s Health, and 
success to the British Arms, we climb'd to the Summit, from 
whence we came, with incredible Difficulty, the Earth giving 
way at every step we set. From thence, after having rested our- 
selves a few Minutes, we began to descend, and arrived at 
Chamouny just about Sun-set, to the great Astonishment of aU 
the People of the Place, and even of our Guides, who owned to 



Visit of M ess rs. P ococke and Windham. 59 

us tliey tliouglit should not liave gone tlirougii witli our Un- 
dertaking. 

Our Curiosity being fully satisfied, we left Ghamouny tlie next 
Day, and lying at SalavxTies^ we got the 23^^ to Bomwville. The 
l^earness of this Place to the Maule raised in us an Inclination to 
go up it. We set about this Task the next Day early in the 
Morning; we fancied that after the Glacieres every Mountain 
would' be easy to us, however it took us more than five Houi-s 
hard Labour in getting up ; the Ascent being extremely steep ; 
though, after two thirds of the Way, there is a fine green Turf 
quite up to the Top, which ends in a Point, the Mountain being 
like a Sugar-Loaf on one Side, and quite perpendicular on that 
Part which lies farthest from Geneva, From this Point there is 
a most delightful View, on one Side, upon the Lake, Genem^ and 
the adjacent Parts ; on the other, upon high Mountains cover' d 
with Snow, which rise around, in form of an Amphitheatre, and 
make a most Picturesque Prospect. After having stay'd some 
time here, we returned back, and went on to Anneey^ where we 
lay, from whence the next Day we got to Geneva. 

Those who are desirous to undertake this Journey, ought not 
to set out till towards the Middle of August ; they would at that 
time find not so much snow on the Mountain. They might go to 
the Crystal Mines, and divert themselves with shooting of 
Bouquetins ; the Oats would then be cut, and their horses would 
not suffer so much. Although we met with nothing which had 
the Appearance of Danger, nevertheless I would recommend go- 
ing well armed ; 'tis an easy Precaution, and on certain Occasions 
very useful, one is never the worse for it, and oftentimes it helps 
a Man out of a Scrape. Barometers to measure the Height of 
the Mountains, portable Thermometers, and a Quadrant to take 
Heights with, would be useful, if there were a Mathematician in 



60 



The Story of MojN^t Blanc. 



Company. A tent would not be necessary, unless for those who 
had a Mind to examine every thmg with the greatest Exactness, 
and make Observations ; in this Case one might pitch it upon the 
Mountain, and pass the Xight in it, if it were necessary, for it 
did not seem very cold there. 

With these Precautions one might go through the other Parts 
of these Yalleys, which form the Y, and one might find out 
whether the Cracks change daily as we are told ; one might also 
Measure those excessive high Eocks which are on the Side of the 
Glaciere^ and make many other cm-ious Observations, according 
to the Taste and Genius of the Travellers ; who, if they were in- 
clined to Botany, might Find an ample Field of Amusement. 

One Avho understood Drawing might find wherewithal to im- 
ploy himself, either on the Koad, or in the Place itself; in short, a 
Man of Genius might do many things which we have not done. 
All the Merit we can pretend to is having opened the way to 
others who may have Curiosity of the same kind. 

It would be right to take Victuals ready di*ess'd, and Salt 
Meat, Bread and Wine, for there are some Places where one can 
get no Provisions, and the little there is to be had in other Places, 
is very bad. We bought a Sheep, which we killed, and dressed 
upon the spot. 

It is necessary to carry Halters to tie the Horses, cut Shoes, 
iTails, Hammer, &c., for they lose their Shoes continually in 
those stoney Roads. 

With such Precautions all kinds of Journeys become easy and 
agreeable, even in the most desert Countries, and one is then 
more in a Condition to observe with Care and Accm'acy, what- 
ever occurs worth Xotice. 

This is the Substance, Sir, of what I can recollect of our Jour- 
ney. My having so long deferVl giving you this Account is o^ving 



Visit of Messrs. 



POCOCKE AND WiNDHAM. 



61 



to the Incapacity I found in myself to say any thing worth being 
presented to a Person of so good a Taste as yourself. However, 
upon the whole, 'tis your good Taste which ought to encourage 
nie : Your lively and penetrating Imagination, which unites in 
one, both the Poet and Painter, will at once lay hold and perfect 
what I have but slightly sketched. I am, with the greatest 
Esteem, 

SIE, 

Your most Obedient Humble Sermnt, 

The letter wMcIl follows tlie above — ^that of Mr. 
Peter Martel — contains more scientific details. He 
commences by telling Mr. Windham that he went to 
Chamouni with some friends, 

"whose Curiosity had been raised by reading your Letter, 
which has been liked by all People of Taste 

and then gives the result of many accurate and clever 
thermometrical and barometrical observations. These 
we need not follow ; but here and there an interesting 
paragraph can be picked out. The ordinary guides 
and guide-books to Montanvert point out a large stone 
on the edge of the Mer de Glace, called the Eoclier des 
Anglais^ inscribed with the names of Pococke and 
Windham, who are legended to have dined here on 
their first visit. A year or two ago some shepherds 
lighted a fire on it and split it. It seems that it was 



62 



The StoPv^y of Mont Blanc. 



Mr. Peter Martel who here refreshed himself, as Mr. 
Windham says nothing about it, but the former thus 
writes : — 

" In order to find a Place to Dine in we descended towards 
the Ice, and got behind a kind of Mound, of great Stones wliich 
the Ice had raised. In this Place we dressed our Victuals, and 
dined under the Shade of a great Eock. The Thermometer was 
got down to only one Degree above the freezing Point. 

This was in August, 1742. Mr. Martel made some 
tolerably correct plans, and took some sketches ; and 
what with his own observations, and the information 
of the guides, collected a quantity of excellent notes 
. about the natural wonders of the valley. His physi- 
ology of the glaciers especially was carefully and in- 
geniously laid down ; and he thus concludes : — 

" Before I quit CJiamouny^ I'll say a Word concerning its nat- 
ural History. The Inhabitants of this Country are very good 
sort of People, living together in great Harmony, they are robust, 
live to a great Age, and have very few Beggars among them ; 
they don't begin to cultivate their Lands till the Spring, after the 
Snows are melted, which is sometimes at the End of April^ and 
sometimes at the End of May ; then they begin to Plough, and 
Sow their Grains, such as Eye, Barley, Oats, Beans, and Buck- 
wheat, which they reap in September, And of all these Grains 
they make a kind of Cake, which is very hard, because they dry 
it in the Sun after it is baked, and they preserve it thus many 
Months. They don't make use of Wheat but for Children, and 
that in very little Quantity. 'Tis surprising to see how the 



Visit of Messrs. Pococke and Windham. 63 

Mountains are cultivated, in places that are almost perpendicular, 
where they Plough and Sow as cleverly as can be done on the 
Plains. This we first observed near Salanches, Fruits ripen 
very late in this Country, for we saw Cherries, there which were 
not quite ripe, and we found Flowers and Fruits on the Moun- 
tain, which are never seen with us but in the Spring. We ob- 
served, as we were going up the Mountain, a fine clear Mineral 
"Water, partaking of Iron and Sulphur, it is very delicious and 
cool ; their Honey is white, resembling very much that of Nar- 
tonne for Colour, but not for Taste. The Sheep which are kept 
near the Glacier lick the Ice, which serves them for di-ink ; they 
are left without any one to watch them, there being in this Val- 
ley no Beast of Prey, though Bears, Wolves, and Foxes abound 
in the Country all about. IsTothing inhabits here but Chamois^ 
Bouquetins^ who keep in the high Mountains, and a great Quan- 
tity of Marmotes ; this is the Account the Inhabitants gave us of 
this Animal. They sleep six Months of the Year, that is, all 
Winter, and in the Summer they provide a warm Couch against 
their time of Sleeping ; for this End they cut Herbs with their 
Teeth, and in order to carry them to their Holes one of them 
lays on its Back, and the others load it like a Cart, and then drag 
it by the Ears to the Hole. They pretend also that they provide 
against being surprised, by placing Centinels, who give them the 
Alarm by a whistling ISToise ; they eat these Marmotes^ and find 
them very good, and use their Fat to burn in Lamps ; there are 
no Birds of Prey in this Valley, nor Crows, neither are there ever 
any Swallows. I observed a remarkable kind of Grasshopper, 
much resembling a Dragon Fly, with long Legs. We staid at 
Chamouny from Tuesday Evening to Tliursday Morning ; but I 
could make no more Experiment with my Barometer, because it 
had been damaged. We went from thence, and lay at Cliise^ 



64 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

and from that Place to the Mountain called the MauU^ which I 
look upon to be somewhat higher than Montamer^ because we 
were half an Hour longer in going up it, although the Eoad is 
very even, as well as steeper. I wished to have had my Barom- 
eter to take the Height of it, but I was forced to content myself 
w^hen I got up to the Top to observe the Angle of Position of the 
Glacier es^ with respect to Geneva^ which I found to be 158 De- 
grees precisely. I looked down upon all the Objects about us 
with great Pleasure ; the Prospect put me in mind of that fine 
Plan which you have seen in our Public Library, for the Plain 
below, seen from this high Mountain, at first Sight gives one the 
same Idea. 'Tis wonderful to see those Places, which we take 
to be nothing but high Mountains, divided by fine and fertile 
Valleys, covered with all Sorts of Trees and Fruit, an infinite 
Kumber of Villages, which being in deep Bottoms, appear from 
thence to be situated in a rural and agreeable Manner. In a 
"V^ord, all the Pains I took to clamber up this Mountain were 
sufficiently recompenced by a Prospect so beautiful and so un- 
common. After having stayed in this Situation about half an 
Hour, we went down again, and continued our Journey. We 
lay at Contamines^ from whence we arrived at Genem^ Saturday 
Morning the 26*^, aU vastly well satisfied with our Journey, and 
without any other regret than not having stayed longer at CJiam- 
ouny^ to have considered the Beauties of the Places thereabouts. 
Those who may hereafter be desirous to undertake this trouble- 
some and curious Journey, ought to add to the Precautions which 
we have pointed out, that of employing more time in it, and, if 
possible, to come round by Switzerland^ which would be very 
easy from Ghamouny. ]N'othing could be more agreeable than 
this Journey, by reason of the Rarity and Variety of Views 
whicli continually occur." 



Visit of Messrs. Pococke and Windham. 65 

Mr. Peter Martel adds a quaint old copperplate print 
of Ice Yalley and Mountains that surround it 
from Mount Anver," in which, a few well-known 
points can be traced : he also gives a map of the 
course of the Arve, a view of Chamouni, and the 
" effigies" of the Chamois, the Bouquetin, and the 
Marmotte. And that his sensible narrative may fur- 
ther serve him, he adds the following 

ADYEETISEMENT. 
Geometry, Trigonometry, Surveying, Fortifications, Gunnery, 
Meclianics, and sevjeral other Branches of the Mathematicks, are 
taught (in French) both at Home and Abroad, according to the 
best and most expeditious Methods. Also Land-Surveying, and 
Maps and Plans executed in the correctest Manner. 

By M. PE TEE MA E TEL, of Qenem, Engineer. 

At the Qrty Head in Queen Street^ Soho ; to be heard of likewise at Slaughter's 
Coffee House* 
Where may be had, 

His PLA^N" of the City and Fortifications of Geneva^ and the 
adjacent Parts, as they were in the Year 1743. 

He also makes and sells Pocket and other Thermometers, with 
several Improvements, and the different graduations of Earen- 
heit, Eeaumur, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Hales, and others, placed 
in such a Manner on the Instrument, as to be easily compared 
one with the other. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DE SAUSSURE. 



HILST Mr. Windham was awaiting some com- 



panions to join him in his first journey to Cha- 
mouni, Horace Benedict de Saussure was born at 
Geneva, on the 17th of February, 1740. 

His father, Nicolas de Saussure, also a Grenevese, 
was already well known as the author -of several ex- 
cellent treatises on subjects connected with agricul- 
ture. Placed in the college of Geneva, the young 
Horace made such progress, that soon after he was of 
age, he was appointed Professor of natural philosophy, 
in the college ; and he held this honorable post for 
twenty-five years, interrupted only by his travels in 
search of physical and especially geological knowledge. 
The events of his life are consequently few ; and the 
substance of them may be best given in his own 
words : — 

I had a decided passion for mountains from my 
infancy. At the age of eighteen I had already been 




De Saussure. 



67 



several times over the mountains nearest to Geneva ; 
but these were of comparatively little elevation, and 
by no means satisfied my curiosity. I felt an intense 
desire to view more closely the High Alps, which, as 
seen from the summits of these lower mountains, ap- 
pear so majestic. At length, in 1760, alone and on 
foot, I visited the glacier of Chamouni, then little fre- 
quented, and the ascent of which was regarded not 
only as difficult but dangerous. I went there again 
the following year ; and from that time I have not 
allowed a single year to elapse without making con- 
siderable excursions, and even long journeys, for the 
purpose of studying mountains. In the cou.rse of that 
period I have traversed the entire chain of the Alps, 
fourteen times by eight different routes. I have made 
sixteen other excursions to the central parts of the 
mountain mass. I have gone over the Jura, the 
Vosges, the mountains of Switzerland and of part of 
Germany, those of England, of Italy, and of Sicily 
and the adjacent islands. I have visited the ancient 
volcanoes of Auvergne, a part of the Vivaris, several 
of the mountains of Forez, of Dauphine, and of Bur- 
gundy. All these journeys I have made with the 
mineralogist's hammer in my hand, with no other aim 
than the study of natural phenomena, clambering up 
to every accessible summit that promised anything 
of interest, and always returning with specimens of the 



68 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

minerals and mountains, especially sucli as afforded 
confirmations or contradictions of any theory, in order 
that I might examine and study them at my leisure. 
I also imposed upon myself the severe task of always 
making notes upon the spot, and whenever it was 
practicable, of writing out my observations in full 
within the twenty -four hours." 

This sketch of De Saussure's travels and labors ex- 
tends from 1758 till 1779. In addition it deserves to 
be particularly mentioned, that in 1787 he ascended to 
the top of Mont Blanc, and remained there three 
hours and a half making observations; in 1788, ac- 
companied by his eldest son, he encamped for seven- 
teen days on the summit of the Col du Greant, at an 
elevation of 11,170 feet, for the purpose of studying 
meteorological phenomena ; and in 1789 he reached 
the summit of Mont Eosa in the Pennine Alps, which 
was the last ascent of importance which he per- 
formed. 

De Saussure resigned his professorship in 1786. He 
was afterwards a member of the Council of Two Hun- 
dred of Geneva ; and when that republic was united 
to France in 1798 he was for some time a member of 
the National Assembly. The French Eevolution, 
however, deprived him of almost all his property, 
which had been deposited in the public funds. An 
organic disease had begun to develop itself when he 



De Saussure. 



69 



was about fifty (probably in consequence of bis exer- 
tions and privations among tbe Alps,) wbicb, combined 
with the loss of bis property, and tbe anxiety and dis- 
tress wbicb be suffered from tbe convulsions of bis 
country, carried bim off at tbe age of fifty-nine. He 
died on tbe 23d of January, 1799. 

De Saussure kept up a correspondence witb many 
of tbe distinguisbed bterary men of bis time ; be was 
a member of tbe Academic des Sciences of Paris, and 
of several otber of tbe scientific societies of Europe ; 
and be was tbe founder of tbe Society for tbe advance- 
ment of tbe Arts at Geneva, wbicb is still in a flour- 
isbing state. 

Tbe labors of De Saussure in geology are of a 
character to secure for bis name a just and enduring 
reputation. Physical geology, tbe research after tbe 
causes of geological phenomena, found in him a dili- 
gent and discriminating observer unbiassed by the 
many speculations of bis day, but looking forward, 
through the results of diligent inquiry into facts, to 
an improved condition of theory. Less speculative 
than De Luc, more philosophical than Werner, more 
original than either, he has had few disciples; but 
modern geologists have largely imbibed tbe adven- 
turous spirit which carried him round all tbe preci- 
pices and through all tbe defiles of the Alps, and may 
yet copy witb advantage the calm and correct indue- 



70 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

tion wMcli lie applied to the complicated disorder of 
tlie strata in these mountains."^ 

I have anticipated some of our dates in this short 
biographical notice of one whose name will ever be 
indissolubly connected with Mont Blanc. I will now 
take up our history once more. 

During the twenty years that followed the visit of 
Mr. Windham and his friends, very few travellers ap- 
peared at Chamouni. The majority of those who did 
undertake the excursion were Englishmen ; and they 
lodged generally with the cure. In 1760, De Saussure 
first arrived in the valley, alone, and then there was 
not a decent inn — a few miserable cabarets, of the 
lowest order, scarcely offered a bed to the weary 
travellers. The young philosopher usually lodged 
with Madame Couteran, the widow of a notary. She 
was a very honest woman. Her house was very clean, 
and all who patronized it were well treated, at a mod- 
erate price. Her son-in-law, M. Charlet, was the chief 
magistrate — the syndic of the village. He appears to 
have been singularly well educated, and capable of 
communicating every local matter of interest to stran- 
gers. He also received travellers when Madame Cou- 
teran's house was full. ^' But now," says De Saussure, 
writing in 1786, "the trip has gradually become so 
fashionable, that three spacious and excellent inns 
* Penny Cyclopedia. 



De Saussure 



71 



have been successively established, scarcely able to con- 
tain the crowd of strangers who come hither in the 
summer from all parts of the globe." 

What would the good Genevese have said, at this 
present time, when a casino and rouge-ei-noir table 
have just been suppressed by the Sardinian authorities 
in the heart of the village ; when London porter and 
Burton ale, and Burgess' Essence of Anchovies are 
found on the dinner tables of the excellent hotels,^ 
where the travellers may read the Illustrated London 
News^ or the Journal des Dehats at his breakfast, to. say 
nothing of Galignani ; and when Manchester prints 
and Birmingham pins attract the peasants, laid out on 
the weekly stall of the wandering chapman from Ge- 
neva or Martigny ! 

* It may be mentioned here, that the present Hotel de Londres 
is the oldest establishment in the Valley. It dates from the visit 
of Pococke and Windham. Those two. travellers rested in a little 
cabaret, owned by Jean Pierre Tairraz, grandfather of the present 
innkeeper, M. Edouard Tairraz. There was no sign to his humble 
hostel, but merely a bush hung over the door, and Mr. Windham 
suggested that the name, Hotel de Londres" should be painted 
up. This was done, and it attracted most of the English visitors 
who did not find quarters with the cure. One of the Oouterans 
opposed Jean Tairraz, calling his house the Hotel d'Angleterre 
but finally Tairraz combined the two names into one, as it now 
stands. 



CHAPTER V. 



OF THE FIKST ADVENTUREKS OK MONT BLANC. 



TpOE some time, during his earliest visits to the Val- 
ley of Chamonni, De Saussure felt convinced that 
the summit of Mont Blanc was inaccessible. He made 
it generally known that he would handsomely reward 
any one who discovered a practicable route to the sum- 
mit, and even offered to pay the day's wages of all 
those who attempted the ascent unsuccessfully. No- 
thing, however, came of this. His guide, Pierre Simon, 
tried twice ; once by the Tacul, passing up the glacier, 
and once by the Glacier des Bossons, but returned 
without a hope of ultimate success. Nevertheless, in 
1775, four Chamouni peasants started with the inten- 
tion of trying to reach the summit by the mountain 
of La Cote — the ridge which divides the Glacier des 
Bossons from that of Taconnay. These got on toler- 
ably well for a short distance ; but, on entering a vast 
valley of snow, which appeared to lead directly to the 
summit, they suffered so acutely from a feeling of 



First Adventurers on Mont Blanc. 



73 



heat and suffocation, that, coupled with general nausea 
and utter exhaustion, they were compelled, without 
having encountered any actual practical difficulty, to 
return."^ 

This ill success did not deter others from venturing 
in their turn. In 1783, three other guides, named 
Jean Marie Coutet, Lombard Meunier, and Joseph 
Carrier, took the same route, passing the night on the 
summit of La Cote, and following the same valley of 
snow, which lay, in all probability, between the Grands 
Mulcts, and the Aiguilles du Midi, and Sans Nom. 
They had attained a great elevation, when the hardiest 
and most robust of the party was seized with an in- 
surmountable drowsiness. He begged the others to 
continue their journey, and leave him there to go to 
sleep. Of course, this was not acceded to ; they gave 
up their attempt, and returned to Chamouni. One of 
them, Lombard Meunier, affirmed that the sun almost 
scorched him — that they had no appetite to eat even a 
crumb ; and that, if he tried the excursion again, he 
should only take with him a parasol and a bottle of 
scent. The thought of this bold mountaineer crossing 
the mighty glacier, with a parasol in one hand, and a 
smelling bottle in the other, appeared to De Saussure 
so absolutely ridiculous, that he avows nothing gave 

* I have thought it best, in the account of these early enter- 
prises, to follow De Saussure's careful history. 

4 



74 The St^ry of Mont Blanc. 

him a greater notion of the difficulty of the under- 
taking. 

De Sanssnre's friend, M. Bonrrit, of Geneva, an en- 
thusiastic traveller, and an able artist, had slept at the 
summit of La Cote, towards the close of the same sea- 
son; when a sudden storm drove him back, at the 
very edge of the glacier. But, as we shall see, he was 
not easily discouraged. At this period he really ap- 
pears to have taken more interest in the matter than 
De Saussure himself, for he was indefatigable in col- 
lecting every detail at all relating to the journey. Two 
chamois hunters had reported that in the pursuit of 
game they had climbed from one range of rock to an- 
other until they believed they had reached a point not 
more than 3,000 feet below the summit, whence the 
slope was easy, and so open and airy, that there ap- 
peared little to fear from the suffocation which had 
frightened their predecessors. Delighted at the dis- 
covery, M. Bourrit hastened to the village where the 
hunters lived, and engaged them at once for a fresh at- 
tempt ; he even started off at night, in his impatience, 
and arrived at daybreak at the foot of the steep rock 
he was to climb — I expect the Aiguille du Bionnassay. 
The morning was uncommonly cold, and what with 
the frost and the fatigue, poor M. Bourrit was now 
completely exhausted, and could not go on. One of 
the guides remained with him whilst the other went 



First Adventurers on Mont Blanc. 75 



on, not only to the summit of tlie rocks, but a great 
way in advance of tlie snow. They stated on their re- 
turn, that they had actually reached the foot of the ac- 
tual dome of Mont Blanc, from which they were only 
separated by a ravine of ice. They also afl&rmed that 
had they only had a little time and a little assistance, 
they could have cut steps in the ice, and easily gained 
the summit. 

All this was very good news for De Saussure, on 
M. Bourrit's return, and he at once determined to try 
the new route as soon as the weather was favorable ; 
but the country people whom he had appointed to 
watch the state of the snow, gave him no hopes until 
the autumn of 1785. He wished to go alone with his 
guides, but M. Bourrit, still enthusiastic, was so anx- 
ious to be of the party, that De Saussure, in consider- 
ation of his having really, in some degree, established 
the route, consented to take him into his caravan, to- 
gether with his (M. Bourrit's) son — a young man just 
of age, whose scientific attainments were of no ordi- 
nary character. De Saussure's first intention was to 
encamp under a tent, at the greatest possible elevation ; 
but M. Bourrit,- with much forethought, sent some 
men ahead, a day or two before the party started, to 
build a rude cabin of granite blocks near the base of 
the Aiguilles da Godte, sheltered alike from the 
weather and the avalanches. 



76 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

All tilings being ready, De Sanssure came from 
Geneva, and M. Bourrit from Cliamouni ; and they 
met at the village of Bionnassay, by appointment, on 
the 12th of September, 1785. There was no inn at 
this poor place ; but they were recommended to one 
of the inhabitants, named Battandier, who was better 
located than the peasants generally. This simple, 
honest fellow appears to have received them with all 
cordiality. He gave them beds of clean fresh straw, 
and they passed an excellent night. 

Early the next morning the party set off along the 
side of the torrent, which flows from the glacier of 
Bionnassay ; and, after a tolerably easy climb of five 
honrS; they reached the cabin erected for them, on a 
sheltered ledge at the foot of the Aiguille du Goute. 
Here they passed the night. This lodging was about 
eight feet long, by seven broad, and four in height. 
The walls were formed of flat stones, placed one on 
the other without cement, and some fir branches made 
the roof. Two mattresses were put on the ground for 
beds, and an open parasol set against the entrance 
formed a door. M. Bourrit, with his son, was affected 
by the rarefaction of the air, and could not eat any- 
thing. De Saussure passed an excellent night. He 
says : — As night came on, the sky was completely 
pure and cloudless. The stars brilliant indeed, but 
unscintillating, cast a pale light over the summits of 



First Adventurers on Mont Blanc. 



77 



tlie mountain peaks, sufficient to define their size and 
distance. The repose and dead silence which reigned 
in this immeasurable space, increased by the imagina- 
tion, inspired me almost with terror. It appeared as 
though I was left living alone in the world, and that I 
saw its corpse at my feet. ^ ^ ^ l either slept 
lightly and calmly ; or my thoughts were so bright 
and peaceful that I was sorry to slumber. When the 
parasol was not before the door, I could see, from my 
bed, the snow, the ice, and the rocks below the cabin ; 
and the rising of the moon gave the most singular ap- 
pearance to the view. Some of the guides passed the 
night crouching in the hollows of the rock, others on 
the ground, enveloped in cloaks and wrappers, and 
some kept watch around a small fire, fed with the 
wood they had carried up with them." 

M. Bourrit had suffered so from the cold at day- 
break on his previous journey, that the party did not 
leave the cabin until past six, when they started in 
high spirits. Their route was exceedingly steep, and 
even dangerous, as they climbed the Aiguille du 
Goute, over treacherous snow-drifts and loose blocks 
of ice ; and these obstacles increased to such an ex- 
tent, that after five hours of climbing, one of the 
guides — Pierre Balmat — proposed a halt, whilst he 
went on to reconnoitre the state of the snow. In an 
hour he returned, and said that the snow was in such 



78 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

a treacherous state, it would not be advisable to pro- 
ceed. It was with great regret that the attempt was 
abandoned. De Saussure made some valuable barom- 
etrical observations, however, and consoled himself 
with the thought that he had been higher than any 
other traveller in Europe. They regained their cabin 
in safety. M. Bourrit, with his son, started off at 
once for Bionnassay, not relishing another night at this 
elevation ; but De Saussure remained to make several 
more interesting experiments, and the next day de- 
scended to Salanches. This was the last expedition 
made before the discovery of the true route to the 
summit. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE FIRST ASCENT OF MONT BLANC. 

B are now approacliiiig tlie date when, in all hu- 
man probability, the foot of man was placed, for 
tlie first time, upon the crown of Mont Blanc. 

In the belief that the obstacles which the state of 
the snows had offered to his progress, were the result 
only of the advanced season, De Saussure determined 
to follow up his enterprise, by the same route — -that of 
the Aiguille du Goute— the next year. He therefore 
engaged Pierre Balmat to build up a stone cabin on 
one of the shelves of the Aiguille, ready for the at- 
tempt ; and to watch carefully the state of the snow 
when the summer came round again. 

In the execution of this project, Pierre Balmat^ 
Marie Coutet, and another guide, climbed up the Ai- 
guille on the 8th of June, 1786, and reached the top 
of the Dome du Groute, with great toil and pain, suf- 
fering acutely from the rarefaction of the air. Here 
they fell in with Frangois Paccard, and three other 




80 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

guides, wlio had ascended bj La Cote — the ridge of 
mountain that divides the lower part of the Glacier 
des Bossons from that of Taconnay. This rendezvous 
had been agreed upon, in order that they might see 
which road was the most advantageous. The prefer- 
ence was given to La Cote, inasmuch as Paccard's 
party reached the Dome du Groute a good hour and a 
half before the others, with infinitely less danger and 
fatigue. Uniting their forces, they traversed a large 
plain of snow, and gained a huge ridge which con- 
nected the top of Mont Blanc with the Dome du 
Groute ; but this was so steep and narrow that its pas- 
sage was impossible. They investigated every portion 
of the plain, and coming to the conclusion that, as 
far as this route was concerned, the summit of Mont 
Blanc appeared more inaccessible than ever, they 
sulkily returned by La Cote, to Chamouni, harassed 
by a fearful storm of snow and hail, in which they 
were nearly lost. 

It so happened that one of Paccard^s party, named 
Jacques Balmat, — who appears just at this time not 
to have been very popular in the valley — had present- 
ed himself vathout invitation, and followed them 
against their will. When they turned to descend 
they did not tell this poor man of their intention. 
Being on unfriendly terms with them, he had kept 
aloof ; and whilst stopping to search for some crystals, 



First Ascent of Mont Blanc. 



81 



under a rock, he lost siglit of them, just as the snow 
began to fall, which rapidly obliterated their traces. 

The storm increased, and not daring to expose him- 
self to the dangers of a solitary descent in the dark- 
ness, he resolved to spend the night, alone, in the 
centre of this desert of ice, and at an elevation of 
fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea ! 

He had no food, and was but poorly clad ; night 
was rapidly coming on, and the frozen flakes fell more 
heavily every minute. He therefore got under the 
lee of one of the rocks, and contrived to heap up 
against it sufficient snow to form a kind of niche into 
which he crept, and blockaded himself as well as he 
was able, from the storm. And there — an atom on 
the ghastly and immeasurable waste of eternal frost 
that extended on^every side around him, in awful, un- 
earthly silence, unbroken by any sound from the re- 
mote living world — ^half dead already from the piercing 
cold, and with limbs inflamed and stiffened by the 
labor he had already undergone, he passed the long- 
uncertain hours of that terrible night. 

At last morning broke. Far away in the east Bal- 
mat saw its earliest lights rising behind the giants of 
the Bernese Oberland who guarded the horizon, and 
one after another the Jungfrau, Eiger, and the Fin- 
steraarhorn stood out bright and sharp in the clear 
cold air. The storm had cleared altogether ; the morn- 

4* 



82 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

ing was calm and mild ; comparatively so even at tliat 
elevation ; and as Balmat painfully endeavored to move 
his almost paralyzed limbs into action, he found that 
his feet had lost all sensation — ^they were frostbitten ! 
He could, however, move them, and without pain. 
The night frost had hardened the snow ; presently the 
sunlight came down the top' of Mont Blanc to the 
Dome du Goute, and then, still keeping up his courage n 
through everything, this brave fellow determined to 
devote the day to surveying the mountain, and seeing 
if any practicable course to the summit presented itself 
on the vast and hitherto untrodden deserts of snow. 
His courage was rewarded : he found that if the 
crevices that border the Grand Plateau, were once 
crossed, the 'path to the top of Mont Blanc was clear . 
and unbroken before him, and he then traced out the 
route, which has, with little variations, been followed 
ever since, and which appears to be, beyond doubt, the 
only practicable one. 

Balmat returned that evening to Chamouni, and his 
energy was all exhausted by the time he reached the 
village. He took to his bed immediately, and he did 
not leave it for weeks. Nobody knew of his success. 
He kept his secret close, until moved with gratitude 
to Dr. Paccard, the village physician, for his great care 
and attention, the line of road was hinted at, and an 
attempt agreed upon as soon as Balmat recovered. 



First Ascent of Mont Blanc. 83 

On the 7th. of August following, these two stout 
iiearts started alone. They took the route by La 
Cote, and slept there, on the summit of the mountain, 
and at the edge of the glacier, about 9000 feet above 
the level of the sea. Before daybreak the next morn- 
ing, they were on the march again, and entered on the 
immense fields of ice, at the junction of the Bossons 
and Tacconay glaciers. At three o'clock in the after- 
noon they were yet uncertain as to the result of the 
enterprize. Paccard suffered severely from fatigue 
and cold, but Balmat was unremitting in his assistance 
and endeavors to keep up the courage of his com- 
panion. At last, after encountering and surmounting 
marvellous obstacles in the way of ice cliffs and crev- 
iceS; they arrived at the summit about sunset. Here 
they waited half an hour, in full view of a vast num- 
ber of the Chamouniards, who had climbed the Breven 
opposite, to watch their progress ; and then returning 
got back to their night bivouac, where they again 
slept, by midnight. On the following morning, the 
9th, they reached Chamouni in safety, by eight o'clock. 
They were entirely exhausted. Their faces were 
swollen and excoriated — ^their eyes nearly closed ; and 
it is said, that for the next week Balmat was scarcely 
recognisable. 

The next day De Saussure was made aware of the 
fortunate termination of this daring excursion. He 



84 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

directly made up liis mind once more to attempt the 
ascent, and wrote a letter to Jean Pierre Tairraz — tlie 
guide already mentioned — conveying his wishes on 
the subject. M. Edouard Tairraz gave me this auto- 
graph document, when I was at Chamouni last autumn, 
and it is now in my possession. I have great pleasure 
in laying it before my readers : — 

[TRANSLATION.] 

I recommend to you, my dear Jean Pierre, Ma- 
dame la Comtesse de Sannazari and her suite. After 
visiting the cmiosities of Chamouni, she wishes to 
hire some mules, to return to Italy by the SimjDlon or 
the Gries ; and I have advised her to come to you, 
and take your mules for the whole journey, rather 
than hire fresh ones from place to place, which was 
her original design. I hope that you will serve her 
well, both as regards the quality of the mules, and 
their price ; and that I shall have no occasion to make 
any complaint. If you can let her have your boy, 
Jean, who accompanied me in some similar journeys, 
and especially over the Grries ; I am sure she will be 
very well attended. 

" I am very much obliged to you for the trouble 
you have taken in sending me an express with your 
letter announcing the fortunate expedition of Doctor 



First Ascent of Mont Blanc. 85 

Paccard. I am deliglited to hear of this, on such 
good authority. I gave two new crowns to the bearer, 
and he said that this paid him suj0S.ciently for his 
trouble. 

^' And now I am going to confide a little affair to 
you, which you must keep quite a secret : I wish to 
attempt the same route. Not that I flatter myself I 
shall be able to reach the summit, for I have neither 
the youth nor the lightness of the Doctor ]^ but I can, 
at all events, get sufficiently high to make some obser- 
vations and experiments, which will be of great im- 
portance. As it appears they had a great deal of 
trouble to cross the glacier above the Montague de la 
Cote, I wish you would send off five or six men at 
once to level the route as much as is practicable. Pay 
them good days' wages ; I leave the sum to your dis- 
cretion, and I will repay you at once. It is most 
essential to procure trustworthy and hard-working 
men. You can put Jacques Balmat, who accompanied 
Dr. Paccard, at the head of them, and give him a bet- 
ter payment. They must begin by erecting a hut at 
the top of the Montague de la Cote, to which they can 
retire at night, and during bad weather. This hut 
will also serve for my resting-place. 

" I also wish them to build another hut, higher up, 
upon some rock in the middle of the snow ; because 
* De Sanssure was at this time about 46. 



86 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

tlie task will be too great for me to go at once from 
the top of the Montagne de la Cote to the summit. At 
the same time, I can also sleep there, or find a refuge 
from bad weather. 

*^But, in all this business, I forbid you, most de- 
cidedly, to tell them my name. Say everything has 
been ordered by a great Italian personage, who does 
not wish to be known. I have most important reasons 
for my name to be kept secret, and for no one to know 
that I am thinking about the attempt. 

^'I expect to arrive at Ohamouni on Thursday or 
Friday next, and I hope all will be ready by that 
time, or, at all events, very forward ; and that there 
may not be any difficulty, I enclose two double Louis 
in this letter, to pay the few first days work, and the 
wine for the men. 

I should have been, indeed, pleased to have lodged 
at your house, if my old associations with the good 
Dame Couteran had not established engagements which 
I cannot break. But be assured you shall not be a 
loser by it ; and if you will execute my commissions 
with promptitude, and attend upon me as I wish, I 
shall not forget it. 

" Moreover, I must beg you to order, at once, a 
ladder twelve or fifteen feet long, with flat sides. This 
ladder, laid down, will be of service in crossing the 
chasms in the glaciers; and, when set up, will be use- 



First Ascent of Mont Blanc. 87 

ful in scaling any rock or cliff of ice. It must be very 
firm, and yet sufficiently light for one man to carry. 
By its means, the workmen will have no occasion to 
make long detours, nor to cut the ice, wherever the 
crevice is no longer than the ladder ; so it is necessary 
that they take one with them of this length at starting. 
They will know how to get on with it, whether its 
poles and steps are round or otherwise ; but they must 
make me one with the steps flat, as it will suit me 
better to walk on. 

" If the weather is not very good, the men can still 
begin to build the hut at the top of the Montague de 
la Cote, as near as possible to the edge of the ice. In 
case there should not be any flat stones, they can build 
it of pine branches, with the leaves on. When they 
are well and thickly set together, they will keep out 
the cold, and even the rain. 

" I could entrust several other people at Chamouni 
with this commission ; but I well know your zeal and 
intelligence, and I hope that my confidence has been 
well placed. Moreover, if success should crown my 
attempt, I shall publish an account of it, and I shall 
not fail to give all due honor to the share you have 
had in the affair, which will greatly add to your repu- 
tation as well as to that of your inn. 

^' Je suis, mon cher Jean Pierre^ voire hien affectionne 
'^De Saussure, Professeur. 

" Geneva, Sunday, 13 August, 1786." 



88 The Story of Moxt Blanc. 

[There then comes a postscript, written verv clearly 
and with great care, evidently meant to hare been cut 
off and put in the hands of the chief guide.] 

^'Eecollect, this is the commission, in a few words, 
which you have to execute for the Italian nobleman : 

1. To order a portable ladder, with flat sides, and 
fifteen feet long. 

" 2. To choose a sufficient number of brave work- 
meU; who will start at once to build a good 
hut on the summit of the Montague de la Cote, 
close to the glacier, in stone, or pine branches 
with the leaves on. 
3. Let them at first take a common ladder with 
them, fifteen feet long; and when they have 
finished the hut, they must try and facilitate 
the passage of the glacier, by cutting steps or 
levelling the ridges of the ice, especially where 
the cre^dces are too large to allow anybody to 
cross on the ladder. 

" 4. After they have arranged this, let them build 
another hut, upon some rock two-thirds or three- 
fourths of the distance between the first hut and 
the top of the mountain. 



N.B. — You must settle beforehand with the work- 



First Ascent of Mont Blanc. 



89 



men about their wages, at so mucli a day, promising 
* them a good tringuelt (sic) if I am content with their 
work." 



De Saussure arrived at Ohamonni, as he had prom- 
ised ; and Tairraz and his party set to work. But bad 
weather came on, the snow was found too treacherous, 
and rain set in without intermission. He therefore 
gave up the attempt until the following year, leaving 
to Jacques Balmat"^ the task of watching the state of 
the mountain, and communicating with him when it 
was considered assailable. 

* Balmat's career, and death at an advanced age, was some- 
what remarkable. De Saussure, in some of his invesfigations, 
had discovered some grains of gold-dust amongst the grit of the 
Arveiron— the torrent which flows from the ice of the Glacier du 
Bois — the Mer de Glace^ as we more popularly know it. ISTot 
having the time to remain at Chamouni to pursue his search, he 
ordered twelve mules to he laden with the river grit and driven 
to Geneva. Old Jean Pierre Tairraz provided the mliles, and 
Balmat was their conducteur on the occasion. He attached so 
great an importance to the object of this caravan, that nothing 
afterwards dissuaded him from the notion of some enormous for- 
tune that De Saussure made in consequence ; and from that time 
on but one thought occupied his mind— that of seeking for gold. 
He explored, alone, some of the most dangerous solitudes of the 
Alps, and at last died alone amongst them. His baton, with a 
broken cord attached to it, was found at the edge of an enormous 
crevice by some chamois hunters, but nothing more was ever 
known respecting his fate. 



4 



CHAPTER TIL 

DE SAUSSURE VANQUISHES MONT BLANC. 

T|B SAUSSURE passed tlie winter of 1786-7 in Pro- 
vence, engaged in his pliilosopliical pursuits, pleas- 
antly enough. He had learned that Mont Blanc was 
assailable, and he quietly awaited Balmat's message as 
to the proper season for him to make the trial. 

The sturdy guide made two excursions in June, 
1787, without success ; but he saw various prognos- 
tics in the phenomena of the glacier world of the hap- 
piest augury. Accordingly, he wrote to De Saussure, 
who met him at Sallanche in July, and heard that, a 
few daj^s previously, he had again reached the summit 
with two other peasants, Jean Michel Cachat and 
Alexis Tournier. This ascent, oddly enough, has 
never been chronicled in the published lists of the 
successes. When De Saussure got to Chamouni bad 
weather came on and continued for a month ; but he 
resolutely resolved to wait there — were it even to the 
end of the season. 



De Saussure Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 91 



At last, tlie long desired chance arrived. On tlie 
Sd of August, this excellent and indefatigable man 
falfiUed the ardent wish of his life ; and, accompanied 
by his servant and eighteen guides, arrived at the 
summit of Mont Blanc."^ His son was most anxious 
to accompany him ; but De Saussure mistrusted his 
powers to undergo the great fatigue, and therefore the 
young man remained at Chamouni with Madame De 
Saussure and his two sisters. They followed the ad- 
vance of the courageous party, step by step, through 
telescopes. 

The route taken by De Saussure differed slightly 
from that now adopted by travellers. The Grlacier des 
Bossons lies in a steep valley between two ridges of 
rock. That to the left is formed by one of the huge 



* De Saussure has left tlie name of his guides, as follows, 
will be seen that they were all Ohamouniards jpur sang. 



It 



Jacques Balmat, called Mont- 
Blanc. 

Pierre Balmat, ) his usual 
Marie Coutet \ guides. 
Jacques Balmat, Madame Coute 

ran's servant. 
Jean Michel Cachat, called Le 

Geant. 

Jean Baptiste Lombard, c^^led 

Jorasse. 
Alexis Tournier. 



Alexis Balmat. 
Jean Louis Devouassou. 
Jean Michel 
Michel 
Francois 
Pierre 
Francois Coutet. , 
Francois Ravanet. 
PijBrre Francois Favret. 
Jean Pierre Cachat. 
Jean Michel Tournier. 



Devouassou, bro- 
thers. 



The guides with the nicknames were so called because they 
had ascended tlie points which the sobriquets indicate. 



92 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

buttresses of the Aiguille du Midi ; and the ascent is , 
now commenced through the steep Foret des Pelerins, 
which clothes its lower side. The ridge to the right is 
called the Montague de la Cote, and separates the 
glaciers of Taconnay and Bossons. Along this latter 
ridge, De Saussure's caravan commenced the ascent. 
There was little difficulty or danger in the early part 
of the journey. They were sure of their footsteps, 
being either on the grass or the rock itself ; and they 
reached the highest point of the mountain — about 
6000 feet above Chamouni, and 9500 feet over the 
level of the sea — ^in about six hours. 

De Saussure was fortunate in the time selected for 
the ascent. The weather was most favorable, and the 
snow compact and hard. He encamped, with his 
party, the first night alone, in the edge of the glacier, 
on the Montague de la Cote, under a tent. The re- 
mains of his old hut were still there ; but he preferred 
the tent, because it left him more at liberty to choose 
his resting-place wherever he chose. 

They started on the ice, the next morning, at half- 
past six. De Saussure was anxious to be on the way 
long before this ; but there was a protracted squabble 
amongst the guides about carrying the luggage ; not 
so much on the score of fatigue, as from the danger of 
breaking through the snow from the additional weight 
of the load. They encountered a great many difficul- 



De Saussure Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 93 



ties amongst the crevices of tlie glacier, and De Saus- 
sure nearly lost the stand of his barometer, through 
the carelessness of his servant ; it fell from his hand, 
and, gliding rapidly along the snow, went down a 
chasm, and stuck in the ice at a considerable depth. 
This stand was part of the apparatus attached to a 
compass, a telescope, and several other philosophical 
instruments ; and^ observing his chagrin at the loss, 
one of the guides allowed himself to be let down the 
crevice by a cord, which was tied under his arms, and 
so recovered it. 

They crossed the glacier until they reached ^^une 
petite chaine de rocs enclaves dans les neiges^'^ which must 
have been the present Grands Mulcts. Here they had 
breakfast at nine o'clock ; and the guides again made 
a long delay. They were not over anxious to bivouac 
on an unknown waste of snow, as was their employer ; 
and, therefore, they tried to put off their departure 
until it would be too late to venture, for want of day- 
light. But De Saussure was firm: he made them start 
again, and about half-past one they halted, to dine at 
another rock — ^the last of the chain. Their appetites 
were famous ; and as they were now 2000 or 3000 feet 
above the line of eternal frost, the guides hit upon an 
ingenious device to procure water. They made up a 
great quantity of snow-balls, and began to pelt the 
side of the rock opposed to the sun, and therefore 



94 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

warm. Part of the snow stuck to tlie rock, and speed- 
ily melted ; and they soon had a reservoir which fur- 
nished them with as much water as they needed. Here, 
again, the guides loitered. The warm and secure rock, 
in the middle of ice, was a perfect Island of Calypso 
for them ; and De Saussure was now obliged to join 
persuasion to command, before they would set off. 

Between the Grands Mulets and the summit, Mont 
Blanc forms three tremendous steps, from 800 to 1000 
feet in depth. These are termed Les Montets ; and 
the highest flat surface of the three platforms is known 
as the Grand Plateau. On the second of these, De 
Saussure prepared to pass the night, at an elevation 
of 13,300 feet above the level of the sea. The party 
arrived here about four in the afternoon, and directly 
began to excavate a pit in the snow for their lodging. 
Into this they threw some straw, and the tent was 
stretched over it. The work was long and painful, for 
the guides were beginning to experience the effect of 
the rarefaction of the air at this height. Eobust as 
they were, and caring nothing for their seven or eight 
hours of climbing, they could scarcely throw up half 
a dozen shovelfuls of snow without resting. De Saus- 
sure suffered considerably himself ; and a raging thirst 
added to his discomfort. The water they had carried 
with them was all frozen ; and a small charcoal bra- 



De Satjssure Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 95 

zier, was of little use to supply melted snow for twenty 
persons. 

It now became very cold. The instant the tent 
was fixed, they all scrambled into the refuge it afford- 
ed, and shut up every opening so closely, that at last 
they nearly suffocated themselves. De Saussure, after 
a time, could not support the close atmosphere any 
longer, and crepi; out in the snow to breathe. The 
moon was then shining brilliantly, in the middle, as 
he says, of a jet black sky. Jupiter was peeping over 
the summit of Mont BlanC; but the light reverberated 
from the mas of snow about him was so bright, that 
only the stars of the first magnitude could be per- 
ceived. Soon, however, it became too cold even for 
our good philosopher, and he crept back into the tent, 
and passed but a sorry night — ^the noise of an ava- 
lanche on the Grand Plateau rousing him just as he 
was dropping off to sleep, and effectually disturbing 
his repose. 

"When morning came, they were some time getting 
ready for departure. They had to melt snow for the 
water necessary for breakfast and the journey to come. 
They crossed the Grand Plateau, now covered with 
the deiris of the avalanche above alluded to, without 
any trouble, except that the rarefaction of the air was 
beginning to attack their lungs ; and this inconveni- 
ence increased at every step. De Saussure was in 



96 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

hopes that a prolonged rest on Eochers Rouges would 
restore the forces of his party ; but this proved of 
little advantage. They had not gone a dozen steps 
before they were compelled to halt again for as long 
a time as they had been in motion, and in this man- 
ner, with great toil and discomfort, they reached the 
summit. 

"At last," says De Saussure, " I had arrived at the 
long-wished-for end of my desires. As the principal 
points in the view had been before my eyes for the 
last two hours of this distressing climb, almost as they 
would appear from the summit, my arrival was by no 
means a coup de theatre ; it did not even give me the 
pleasure that one might imagine. My keenest impress- 
ion was that of joy at the cessation of all my troubles 
and anxieties ; for the prolonged struggle and the re- 
collection of the sufferings this victory had cost me, 
produced rather a feeling of irritation. At the very 
instant that I stood upon the most elevated point of 
the summit, I stamped my foot on it more with a sen- 
sation of anger than pleasure. Besides, my object was 
not only to reach the crown of the mountain : I had 
to make such observations and experiments as would 
alone give any value to the enterprise, and I was 
afraid I should only be able to accomplish a portion 
of my intentions. I had already found out — even on 
the plateau where we slept — ^that every careful obser- 



De Saussure Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 



97 



vation in such, a rarefied atmosphere was fatigning, be- 
cause you hold your breath, unthinkingly ; and as the 
tenuity of the air is obliged to be compensated for by 
the frequency of respiration, this suspended breathing 
causes a sensible feeling of uneasiness. I was com- 
pelled to rest and pant as much after regarding one of 
my instruments attentively, as after haying mounted 
one the steepest slopes." 

The guides contrived to put up the tent, and they 
built a sort of table, on which the good professor was 
to conduct his experiments. But he found he was 
obliged to stop every moment, and give more attention 
to his breathing than to his instruments. The barom- 
eter was down to sixteen inches, so that the air had 
not much more than half its ordinary density ; and the 
arteries, no longer restrained by the usual pressure, 
were working with double energy. The whole party 
complained more or less of fever. As long as they 
kept perfectly still, they experienced little uneasiness 
— only a slight nausea and heartburn ; but as soon as 
they moved, or fixed their attention rigidly on any 
object, or stooped down so as to compress the chest, 
they were obliged to repose again, almost gasping, for 
two or three minutes. They had no appetite, and 
indeed, had they felt at all hungry, the frozen victuals 
they had with them were not very tempting. They 
did not care to touch the wine or the brandy, finding 

5 



98 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

that these only increased their discomforts. Cold 
water alone relieved them ; and when they had swal- 
lowed what little they had with them, one or two of 
the guides left the summit, and descended at once, 
unable to bear their sufferings any longer. 

De Saussure took some trouble to experimentahze 
upon the intense blue color which the sky assumes at 
great elevations. Before he quitted Geneva, he pre- 
pared some sheets of paper of sixteen graduated shades 
of blue, from the deepest color to the palest tint, and 
he numbered these from one to sixteen. He had three 
sets of these papers made ; one he left with his friend 
M. Senebier at Geneva ; the second he gave to his son, 
who remained at Chamouni ; and the third he carried 
with him to the summit. At noon on the day of the 
ascent the sky at Geneva was of the seventh tint ; at 
Chamouni, between the fifth and sixth ; and on Mont 
Blanc, between the first and second — the deepest 
" hleu du roV The guides all tol^ him they had 
seen the stars in the broad daylight ; but he admits 
himself he could not discern them. 

The party remained four hours on the summit. De 
Saussure found it impossible to make all the experi- 
ments he wished within that time ; but it was neces- 
sary for them to start, and he left the magnifque 
belvedere (as he terms it) at half-past three in the after- 
noon. 



De Saussure Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 99 

The snow was now very soft in tlie sun, and the 
walking troublesome; but in about an hour and a 
quarter they came down to their bivouac of the pre- 
ceding night. As it was still early, De Saussure was 
unwilling to stay here ; and they pushed on, descend- 
ing the Montets, until they reached what, from the de- 
scription, must have been the Grands Mulcts rocks ; 
and now the third night was to be passed. They made 
a fresh bivouac ; the guides contrived several sheltered 
places in the nooks and corners of the rock ; and De 
Saussure was more comfortable than he had felt when 
they were all crowded together under the tent on the 
plateau. He says, We supped merrily together, and 
with famous appetites ; after which I passed an excel- 
lent night upon my little mattress. It was not until 
then that I really felt pleased at having accomplished 
the wish of twenty-seven years — ^that is to say, dating 
from my first visit to Chamouni, in 1760 — a project I 
had so often thrown over and taken up again, and 
which had been such a continual subject of mistrust 
and anxiety to my family. It had become a perfect 
disease with me ; my eyes never fell on Mont Blanc, 
visible from so many points in our neighborhood, 
without my experiencing a really painful sensation. 
At the moment of my reaching the summit I was not 
really satisfied — I was less so when I left it. I only 
reflected then upon what I had not done. But in the 



100 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

stillness of the night, after ha^dng recovered from my 
fatigue, when I went over the observations I had 
made — when especially, I retraced the magnificent ex- 
panse of the mountain peaks which I had carried away 
engraven on my mind — and when I thought I might 
accomplish on the Col du Greant what, most assuredly, 
I should never do on Mont Blanc, I enjoyed a true 
and unalloyed satisfaction." 

At six o'clock the next morning — ^that of the fourth 
day of the journey — they left the rocks, and crossing 
the Tacconnay Glacier, reached the hut on the Cote 
in an hour. They had some trouble not immixed 
with danger, on the Glacier ; but at last, about half- 
past nine, they all stood together in safety on sohd 
ground. In less than three hours, they reached Oha- 
mouni. 

Their arrival was, as De Saussure says, ^^tout d la 
fois gaie et touchanieP They were met by all the rela- 
tions and friends of the guides, and the various greet- 
ings were most affecting. Madame de Saussure, his 
sisters, and her children, had passed an anxious time 
at Chamouni ; but were now overcome ^dth joy, as 
were, although in a less degree, a great many friends, 
who had come purposely from Geneva, to welcome the 
good Professor back from his enterprise. 

De Saussure remained the next day at Chamouni, 
and then returned to his home, whence," he says. 



De Saussue-e Vanquishes Mont Blanc. 101 

he could now look "apon Mont Blanc with true de- 
light, without experiencing those sensations of anxiety 
and trouble which the sight of the mountain had 
hitherto given rise to." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

DR. HAMEL'S fatal ATTEMPT. 

rjIHE reader may remember I have spoken of M. 

Bourrit — ^De Saussure's indefatigable friend. He 
had made three "unsuccessful attempts to scale the 
mountain already, and on the day De Saussure reach- 
ed the summit, he started again. But the weather and 
the snow again combined against him. He only 
reached the top of the Cote, without touching the gla- 
cier, and was then driven back. 

Next day Colonel Beaufoy (whom M. Bourrit calls 
Mr. le Chevalier Beaufoix)^ arrived at Chamouni with the 
intention of making the ascent. He slept at the Cote, 
as De Saussure had done ; but, starting very early the 
next morning, reached the summit by two o'clock 
P.M., to the surprise of all who were watching his pro- 
gress with telescopes. This, however, was a forced 
march, brought about by a fear of a change in the 
weather ; and he suffered for it : for when he returned 
to Chamouni the next day, his face was completely 



Dn, Hamel's Fatal Attempt, 



103 



peeled, and his eyes in a terrible state of inflammation. 
It was at one time feared that he would lose his sight ; 
but he appears to have derived great benefit from an 
ointment in which the fat of the marmot was the chief 
ingredient. Mrs. Beaufoy, who was scarcely nineteen 
years of age, during his illness collected all the results 
of the experiments her husband had made on the 
summit, with a facility and correctness which, M. 
Bourrit assures us, gave him a very high notion of 
English education." 

The following autumn, (1788,) our indefatigable 
traveller, nothing discouraged by his repeated failures, 
tried again to get up the mountain, accompanied by 
his son. He assures us that all the preparations were 
made " regardless of expense." He engaged seven- 
teen guides, and brought De Saussure's tent with him 
from Geneva. He collected a large quantity of wrap- 
pers and blankets, and straw for their bivouac, and 
provisions enough for six days, if required. All these 
necessaries were augmented by the arrival of two 
more gentlemen, bent on the same errand — Mr. Wood- 
ley, an Englishman, and Mr. Camper, a native of Hol- 
land. They agreed to make one party, and five more 
guides were added to the caravan. 

This venture nearly terminated fatally. They slept, 
as usual, the first night on the Cote, and attempted to 
reach the summit the next day, as Colonel Beaufoy 



104 The Stoe,y of Mont Blanc. 

had done. Mr. Woodley, wlio appears to have pos- 
sessed the best legs and lungs of the party, walked 
clean away from them with four guides : some of the 
others knocked up on the Grand Plateau, and returned 
to the Grands Mulcts dead beat. M. Bourrit really 
reached the calotte^ as the last dome of Mont Blanc is 
called, and was frightened back from thence by the 
Dutchman, who, being some way ahead, returned with 
a terrible account of the cold and danger. A heavy 
fog soon shrouded everything, and they reached their 
tent with great difficulty, where, towards night, they 
were rejoined by Mr. Woodley and his guides — the 
former with his feet frost-bitten, and all the men more 
or less invalided. They passed a wretched night, and 
returned the following morning to Chamouni. Mr. 
"Woodley Avas obliged to keep his feet in snow and 
salt for a fortnight ; one of the Balmats was blind for 
three weeks ; Cachat had his hands frozen, and was a 
long time recovering ; and poor M. Bourrit at last ap- 
peared inclined, after five disappointments, to give up 
the enterprise as a bad job. He never tried it again, 
but contented himself with crossing the Col de Balme, 
and describing the Simplon. 

Fourteen years now passed before another successful 
ascent was achieved. There were many attempts com- 
menced, unmarked by any adventures, except one 
made in 1791, when one of the guides accompanying 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 



105 



four Englishmen had his leg broken by an eboulement 
of rocks on the Cote, and another had his skull frac- 
' tured. On the 10th of August, 1802, M. Forneret, of 
Lausanne, and Baron Doorthesen, a German, reached 
the summit, after encountering terrible difficulties, and 
suffering most acutely from the rarefaction of the air. 
M. Forneret told M. Bourrit that he could only com- 
pare the agony he endured to that of a man whose 
lungs were being violently torn from his chest. In 
1809, Maria Parodis, the wife of one of the guides, 
ascended with Victor Tairraz, the father of the present 
hotel-keeper. In 1812, M. Eodatz, of Hamburg, 
gained the summit. In 1818, a Eussian, Count Matey- 
ski, succeeded ; and in 1819 there were two ascents 
made — one by two Americans, Dr. Russell and Mr. 
Howard, and the other by an English naval oflicer, 
Captain Underhill. 

We now arrive at the date of the terrible accident 
which threw such a frightful interest round the ascents 
of Mont Blanc, and by which three of the guides lost 
their lives, when Dr. Hamel attempted the mountain 
in 1820. This gentleman, who is still alive, and fre- 
quently in London, was at this time employed by the 
Emperor of Russia to make some important philo- 
sophical observations ; and for the better carrying out 
of some of these, he had determined to ascend Mont 
Blanc in company with M. Selligue, an optician at 



106 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Geneva, who was anxious also to try some experi- 
ments, principally with a new barometer of his own 
construction. They met, at Geneva, with two young 
Englishman — Mr. Durnford, now a clergyman in the 
west of England, and Mr. Henderson — both, at that 
time of Brazen-nose — and agreed to form one party to- 
gether. They engaged twelve guides ; the weather 
was everything that could be desired, and the most 
agreeable results were anticipated. 

The first day's journey to the Grands Mulcts was 
accomplished without any accident, with the exception 
of a mischance which occurred to JuUien Devouassou 
— one of the guides — who swallowed some sulphuric 
acid, in mistake for syrup of vinegar. This might 
have terminated seriously ; but fortunately a chalet 
was at hand, from which Dr. Hamel procured some 
wood-ashes, and administering them to the sufferer, 
in water, succeeded in neutralizing the acid. At the 
Grands Mulcts the guides made a sort of tent with 
their batons and blankets ; and this was scarcely com- 
pleted, when a violent thunderstorm came on, which 
lasted nearly all night long. Dr. Hamel put his elec- 
trometer outside the tent, to see the state of the atmos- 
phere ; but it was so violently affected, that he was 
glad to draw it back again. 

All next day they were detained on the Grands 
Mulcts by bad weather, and had to send two guides 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 107 

back to Chamouni for fresh, provisions. About two 
o'clock the next morning, however, the stars came 
out ; and finally, day broke most beautifully. ^' The 
guides," says Mr, Durnford, were now eager to pro- 
ceed, and our whole party shared in their ardor, 
with one exception. M. Selligue had passed a rather 
sleepless night, during which he had made it out com- 
pletely to his own satisfaction, that a married man had 
a sacred and imperiaus call to prudence and caution 
where his own life seemed at all at stake ; thus he had 
done enough for glory in passing two nights, in suc- 
cession, perched on a crag, like an eagle, and that it 
now became him, like a sensible man, to return to Ge- 
neva, while return was yet possible. All our remon- 
strances proving ineffectual, though an allusion to his 
new barometer was not forgotten, we left him, with 
two guides, in possession of the tent, on the Grands 
Mulcts. These men were persuaded, much against 
their inclination, to forego the pleasure of continuing 
the ascent, and thus adding to their reputation as 
guides. Two of them, who had never been on the 
summit, and who were, therefore, selected as most 
proper to remain, actually refused. These were Pierre 
Balmat, and Auguste Tairraz, ' whose names will ap- 
pear again in the sequel." 

At twenty minutes past eight, A.M., the party reach- 
ed the Grand Plateau, where they made an attempt at 



108 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

breakfast; but there ^^as no great appetite amongst 
the party. At nine they resumed their march. " We 
were all," says Dr. Hamel, ''full of hope and joy at 
seeing ourselves so near the end of our laborious jour- 
ney. The glorious weather which prevailed, the awful 
stillness which reigned around, and the pure, celestial 
air which we inhaled, gave birth in our souls to feel- 
ings which are never experienced in these lower re- 
gions." At half-past ten they had arrived nearly be- 
low the Eochers Eouges ; and now we must let Mr. 
Durnford speak for himself: 

"About twenty minutes after the change in our 
direction above alluded to, the difficulty of breathing 
gradually increasing, and our thirst being incessant, I 
was obliged to stop half a minute to arrange my veil ; 
and the sun being at that moment partially concealed 
by a cloud, I tucked it up under the large straw hat 

which I wore. In this interval, my companion H 

and three of the guides passed me, so that I was now 
sixth in the line, and of course the centre man. 

H was next before me ; and as it was the first 

time we had been so circumstanced during the whole 
morning, he remarked it, and said we ought to have 
one guide at least between us, in case of accident. 
This I over-ruled by referring him to the absence of 
all appearance of danger at that part of our march, to 
which he assented. I did not then attempt to recover 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 109 

my place in front, tliongli tlie wisli more than once 
crossed my mind, finding, periiaps, that my present 
one was much less laborious. To this apparently 
trivial circumstance I was indebted for my life. A few 
minutes after the above conversation, my veil being 
still up, and my eyes turned at intervals towards the 
summit of the mountain, which was on the right, as 
we were crossing obliquely the long slope above de- 
scribed, which was to conduct us to the Mount Maudit, 
the snow suddenly gave way beneath our feet, begin- 
ning at the head of the line, and carried us all down 
the slope to our left. I was thrown instantly off my 
feet, but was still on my knees, and endeavoring to 
regain my footing, when, in a few seconds, the snow 
on our right, which was of course above us, rnshed 
into the gap thus suddenly made, and completed the 
catastrophe by burying us all at once in its mass, and 
hurrying us downwards towards two crevasses about 
a furlong below us, and nearly parallel to the line of 
our march. The accumulation of snow instantly threw 
me backwards, and I was carried down, in spite of all 
my struggles. In less than a minute I emerged, partly 
from my own exertions, and partly because the ve- 
locity of the falling mass had subsided from its own 
friction. I was obliged to resign my pole in the strug- 
gle, feeling it forced out of my hand. A short time 
afterwards, I found it on the very brink of the crev- 



110 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

asse. This had hitherto escaped our notice, from its 
being so far belo^v us, and it was not until some time 
after the snow had settled, that I perceived it. At the 
moment of my emerging, I was so far from being alive 
to the danger of our situations, that on seeing my two 
companions at some distance below me, up to the waist 
in snow, and sitting motionless and silent, a jest was 
rising to my lips, till a second glance showed me 
that, with the exception of Mathieu Balmat, they were 
the only remnants of the party visible. Two more, 
however, being those in the interval between myself 
and the rear of the party, having quickly reappeared, 
I was still inclined to treat the affair rather as a per- 
plexing though ludicrous delay, in having sent us 
down so many hundred feet lower, than in the light 
of a serious accident, when Mathieu Balmat cried 
out that some of the party were lost, and pointed 
to the crevasse, which had hitherto escaped our no- 
tice, into which, he said, they had fallen. A nearer 
view con^-inced us all of the sad truth. The three 
front guides, Pierre Carrier, Pierre Balmat, and Au- 
guste Tairraz, being where the slope was somewhat 
steeper, had been carried down with gi^eater rapid- 
ity, and to a greater distance, and had thus been 
hurried into the crevasse, with an immense mass of 
snow upon them, which rose nearly to the brink. 
Mathieu Balmat, who was fourth in the line, being a 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. Ill 

man of great muscular strengtli, as well as presence 
of mind, had suddenly thrust his pole into the firm 
snow beneath, when he felt himself going, which cer- 
tainly checked, in some measure, the force of his fall. 
Our two hindermost guides were also missing, but we 
were soon gladdened by seeing them make their ap- 
pearance, and cheered them with loud and repeated 
hurrahs. One of these, Julien Devouassoux, had been 
carried into the crevasse, where it was very narrow, 
and had been thrown with some violence against the 
opposite brink. He contrived to scramble out without 
assistance, at the expense of a trifling cut on the chin. 
The other, Joseph Marie Couttet, had been dragged 
out by his companions, quite senseless, and nearly 
black from the weight of snow which had been upon 
him. In a short time, however, he recovered. It was 
long before we could convince ourselves that the others 
were past hope, and we exhausted ourselves fruitlessly, 
for some time, in fathoming the loose snow with our 
poles. When the sad truth burst upon us, our feel- 
ings may, perhaps, be conceived, but cannot be ex- 
pressed. The first reflection made involuntarily^ by 
each of us — ^ I have caused the death of those brave 
fellows,' however, it was afterwards over-ruled in our 
calmer moments, was then replete with unutterable 
distress. We were separated so far from one another 
by the accident, that we had some distance to come 



112 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

before we could unite our endeavors. The first few 
minutes, as may be readily imagined , were wasted in 
irregular and unsystematic attempts to recover them. 
At length, being thoroughly convinced, from the rela- 
tive positions of the party when the accident hap- 
pened, that the poor fellows were indeed in the 
crevasse, at the spot pointed out by Mathieu Balmat, 
the brother of one of them — ^in our opinion, only one 
thing remained to be done, and that was to venture 
down upon the snow which had fallen in, and, as a 
folorn hope, to fathom its unknown depths with our 
poles. After having thus made every effort in our 
power for their recovery, we agreed to abandon the 
enterprise altogether, and return to the Grands Mulcts. 
The guides having in vain attempted to divert us from 
our purpose, we returned to the crevasse, from which, 
during the consultation, we had separated ourselves to 
a short distance, and descended upon the new-fallen 
snow. Happily it did not give way beneath our 
weight. Here we continued, above a quarter of an 
hour, to make every exertion in our power for the 
recovery of our poor comrades. After thrusting the 
poles in to their full length, we knelt down, and ap- 
plied our mouth to the end, shouting along them, and 
then listening for an answer, in the fond hope that 
they might still be alive, sheltered by some projection 
of the icy walls of the crevasse ; but, alas I all was 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 113 

silent as the grave, and we had too much reason to 
fear that they were long since insensible, and probably 
at a vast depth beneath the snow on which we were 
standing. We could see no bottom to the gulf on 
each side of the pile of snow on which we stood ; the 
sides of the crevasse were here, as in other places, 
solid ice, of a cerulean color^ and very beautiful to the 
eye. Two of the guides, our two leaders, had followed 
us mechanically to the spot, but could not be prevailed 
upon to make any attempts to search for the bodies. 
One of these soon proposed to us to continue the 
ascent. This was Marie Couttet, who had escaped so 
narrowly with his life ; but Julien Devouassoux loudly 
protested against this, and resolutely refused to ad- 
vance. Whether or not we could have prevailed on a 
sufficient number to accompany us to the summit, I 
cannot say ; but we did not bring the point to trial, 
having now no room left in our minds for any other 
idea than that of the most bitter regret. I hardly 
know whether we should then have felt sufficient in- 
terest to lead us a hundred yards onwards, had that 
been the only remaining interval between us and the 
summit. Had we recovered our lost companions, I 
am sure the past danger would not deterred us ; but to 
advance under present circumstances, required other 
hearts than ours. I believe those who condemn us 
for having abandoned the enterprise when so near to 



114 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

its accomplishment (and many have done so), refer all 
our reluctance to personal fear ; but this is a charge 
from which we do not feel very anxious to clear our- 
selves. We had soon to encounter a much more 
serious imputation of an opposite character, that of 
undue rashness, in persisting in the ascent after the 
bad weather we had experienced. The best refutation 
of this charge may be seen in the proces- verbal, held 
the following morning by the municipal officer, on oc- 
casion of the unhappy catastrophe. I was anxious to 
procure a copy of this important document before we 
left the Prieure; but this being against custom, we 
made a similar application to the magistrate at Bonne- 
ville, the head-quarters of the district. He was oblig- 
ing enough to forward a copy to each of us, to our 
address at Geneva. Had this arrived earlier, we 
should have been spared some very painful scenes in 
that city ; where, by the industry of M. Selligue, some 
very injurious reports were soon in circulation against 
us. The reluctance expressed by the guides on our 
proposing to set oflf the preceding day, arose not so 
much from the danger they anticipated, as from a con- 
viction that our object in the ascent would be defeated 
by the cloudiness of the weather. As the same wind 
continued, they anticipated rain, which would have 
incommoded us exceedingly ; but on the third morn- 
ing all their objections seemed at once to vanish, and 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 115 



they were all so eager to proceed, that, as was observed 
above, we found some difficulty in selecting two to 
remain behind at the Grands Mulcts. 

To return to our narrative. All our endeavors 
proving fruitless, we at length tore ourselves from the 
spot, towards which we continued to direct many a 
retrospective glance, in the vague hope of seeing our 
poor companions reappear, and commenced our melan- 
choly descent. After a silent march of nearly three 
hours, which we performed not as before, in one un- 
broken line, bat in detached parties, Dr. Ham el being 

at some distance behind and H in the front, we 

regained the Grands Mulcts, where we found our tent 
just as we had left it in the morning. Here we met 
two guides, who were arrived from Chamounix, ac- 
companied by two Frenchmen on a geological tour; 
they were desirous of joining our party, but on hearing 
the accident which had befallen us, preferred returning 
with us to Chamounix. As I was narrating the catas- 
trophe to the party on the rock, one of them, in the 
warmth of his heart, caught me in his arms, and I was 
obliged to submit to a salute on both sides of the face, 
by way of congratulation. Though the day was now 
pretty far advanced, it being past three o'clock, yet we 
preferred continuing our descent. After a short halt, 
during which the guides packed up all the baggage, 
we once more put ourselves in motion, and addressed 



116- The Story of Mont Blanc. 

ourselves to the formidable task of descending the 
Grands Mulets. The guides promised us daylight suf- 
ficient to conduct us over all the mauvais pas^ after 
which we might either take up with a shed and some 
straw at the chalet, or proceed to the hotel at Cham- 
ounix, according as our strength and inclination should 
direct. Our mental excitement set us above all per- 
sonal fear, and we apprehended lest this should be 
quickly succeeded by a nervousness, which might 
altogether incapacitate us for exertion. The com- 
mencement of the descent over the ridge being 
achieved with great caution, we soon proceeded pretty 
rapidly. One of the guides to ok the lead as usual. 
He was followed by one of ourselves, with a cord 
round his waist, which was held by the guide next in 
the line. By this arrangement, we were each between 
two guides, and the spikes in our heels gave us addi- 
tional confidence in treading. M. Selligue had set off 
on his return as soon as we were out of sight in the 
morning. The two guides who had arrived with our 
new acquaintances the Frenchmen, had met him with 
his two guides in the passage of the glacier, which 
both these parties contrived to cross without the aid 
of the ladder, which remained all the time as the main 
rafter of our tent above. Nothing remarkable occur- 
red during our rapid descent to the chalet, excepting 
that we found a young chamois in the glacier, which 



Dr. 



Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 



117 



appeared to have made a fruitless endeavor to cross it, 
and lost its life by a fall. Our thirst continued as vio- 
lent as ever, and we drank every five minutes at the 
delicious drippings of the glacier. Ever since break- 
fast we had been in a high state of fever, which our 
mental agitation had no doubt much increased. Dr. 

Hamel's pulse was at 128 in the minute, and H 's 

and mine were probably at nearly the same height. 

We reached the chalet about seven, where we re- 
freshed ourselves with some milk and wild strawber- 
ries. Our new companions, having ascended from this 
spot in the morning, were now quite exhausted, and 
remained here for the night. We preferred continuing 
the descent, though in the dark, by a track which re- 
minded me strongly of a night march in the Pyrenees, 
and about nine o'clock arrived at the hotel. Mathieu 
Balmat had got the start of us about ten minutes, and 
we found a large party of women loudly bewaihng 
the fate of the unhappy sufferers. We shut ourselves 
up immediately, not being in a situation to bear com- 
pany. We found at the hotel some Oxford friends, 
who arrived on the evening of the day of our ascent, 
in the midst of the thunder-storm, and were much 
alarmed at seeing our names in the travellers' book. 
During the day before they had observed us on the 
Grands Mulcts, and that very morning had seen us on 
our way to the Grand Plateau. They ascertained our 



118 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

number to be eleven, and a few hours afterwards saw 
us return with only eight in the party. They even 
took notice that the two or three last were perpetually 
stopping and looking behind them. From these signs, 
the landlord of the hotel anticipated the melancholy 
tidings first brought by poor Balmat. 

" The next morning we sent for the relatives of the 
deceased. Fortunately neither of them was married, 
but Carrier had left an aged father, who had been 
wholly dependent on him for support. We left with 
him what we could spare ; and at Geneva a subscrip- 
tion was soon opened for them, under the auspices of 
the amiable Professor Pictet, who generously exerted 
himself in their behalf. Our meeting with old Bal- 
mat was the most affecting of all. He had been one 
of Saussure's guides, and was brother to the hero 
surnamed Mont Blanc. On my commending the 
bravery of his poor son Pierre, the tears started into 
his eyes, which kindled for a moment at the compli- 
ment, and he grasped my hand with ardor as he re- 
plied, ^ Oui, Monsieur, vous avez raison, il etoit meme 
trop brave, comme son pere.' The ofl&cer soon at- 
tended to conduct the proces-verbal. He was the 
brother of our host, and noways inclined to abate any- 
thing of the respect due to his office. He dictated 
from his seat, while his amanuensis wrote. He was a 
great stickler for grammatical accuracy, and there was 



Dr. Hamel's Fatal Attempt. 119 

a long discussion about the respective claims of an in- 
dicative and subjunctive mood, during whicb be laid 
down tbe law witb the most ludicrous gravity and 
self-importance. Dr. Hamel and tbree of tbe guides 
were examined upon oatb as to tbe cause of tbe mis- 
fortune. Tbey all agreed in referring it solely to 
accident. About two o'clock we set off on our return 
for Cbamounix in two sbarabands, and we were glad 
to recognize in one of tbe drivers our late captain, 
Josepb Marie Couttet, wbo bad tbrown olf bis cbas- 
seur's pelisse, and now appeared in tbe costume of 
postilion. Our parting witb tbe inbabitants of tbe 
village was truly affecting. Tbe sympathy wbicb we 
could not belp displaying in tbe grief of tbe surviving 
relatives bad won all tbeir bonest hearts, and many 
pressed round our sbarabands for tbe pleasure of wish- 
ing us a safe and happy return to England. We slept, 
as before, at St. Martin, and tbe following day arrived 
at Geneva. 

I will add a few words in explanation of tbe im- 
mediate cause of tbe accident. We were taken so com- 
pletely unawares, and so speedily buried in tbe snow, 
that it is no great wonder that our accounts do not in 
all points agree. Dr. Hamel, according to bis own ac- 
count, besides tbe impediment of bis veil and spec- 
tacles, was wholly engrossed in counting bis own steps. 
He was last in tbe line, and at some distance from the 



120 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



rest ; and tlie suddenness of the accident made him 
suppose it produced by an avalanche from the summit 
of the mountain. H had the same idea, and ac- 
cordingly made some abortive attempts to get out of 
the way, by following the descent of the slope. This 
probably, united with his subsequent self-abandonment 
to the force of the snow, caused his being carried 
down so much nearer the crevasse than myself, who, 
from the very short distance between us, should have 
emerged about the same spot. The following, I believe, 
is the most correct statement of the process of the 
misfortune. Duiing two or three days a pretty strong 
southerly wind had prevailed, which, drifting gradu- 
ally a mass of snow from the summit, had caused it to 
form a sort of wreath on the northern side, where the 
angle of its inclination to the horizon was small enough 
to allow it to settle. In the course of the preceding 
night, that had frozen, but not so hard as to bear our 
weight. Accordingly, in crossing the slope obliquely, as 
above described, with the summit on our right, we broke 
through the outer crust, and sank in nearly up to the 
knees. At the moment of the accident, a crack had 
been formed quite across the wreath ; this caused the 
lower part to shde down under our weight on the 
smooth slope of snow beneath it, and the upper part 
of the wreath, thus bereft of its support, followed it 
in a few seconfts, and was the grand contributor to 



\ 



Dr. Hamel*'s Fatal Attempt. 121 

the calamity. The angle of trie slope, a few minutes 
before the accident, was only 28 \ Here, perhaps, it 
was somewhat greater, and in the extrem^e front proba- 
bly greatest of all, since the snow fell there with 
mnch greater velocity, and to a greater distance. 
Should any one be induced to make another attempt 
to reach the summit by the same route, he should 
either cross the slope below the crevasse, and then hav- 
ing passed it by a ladder, mount in zig-zag towards 
the MontMaudit ; or the party should proceed in par- 
allel lines, and not trust all their weight to a surface, 
which, whenever a southerly wind prevails, must be 
exposed to similar danger. All such plans as that of 
fastening themselves together with a rope would be 
utterly useless, besides the insupportable fatigue which 
this method of proceeding would occasion, as will at 
once be acknowledged by all who have made the experi- 
ment. This plan answers well enough in the descent, 
and when two or three only are united by the rope ; 
but in either circumstances it would utterly fail. At 
the moment of the accident, Pierre Carrier, on every 
circumstance connected with whom I still feel a mel- 
ancholy pleasure in dwelling, was at the head of the 
line, and Pierre Balmat, who, as well as his immediate 
follower and partner in the misfortune, Auguste Tair- 
raz, was making his first ascent, was second. Couttet 
had been on the summit five or six times, and was 

6 



122 The Story of Mont Blaxc, 

then, as T^ell as his brother David, in the rear of the 
party. The behavior of all the guides on occasion 
of the accident was such, perhaps, as might be expected 
from men thrown on a sudden completely out of their 
reckoning — their presence of mind, for some minutes, 
seemed utterly to abandon them, and they walked to 
and fro uttering cries of despair. The conduct of 
poor Mathieu Balmat was most heart-rending to wit- 
ness — ^after some frantic gestures of despair, he threw 
himself on the snow, where he sat for a time in sullen 
silence, rejecting all our kind offices with a sort of irri- 
tation which made it painful to approach him. But 
this did not last long ; he suffered me to lead him a 
few paces at the commencement of the descent, and 
then suddenly shaking himself, as if from a load, he 
adjusted the straps of his knapsack, and resumed his 
wonted firmness. At times he even chimed in with- 
the conversation of the rest with apparent unconcern ; 
but I observed a sort of convulsion occasionally pass 
across him, from 'which he relieved himself by the 
same gesture of shaking his head and throwing it 
backwards. It is remarkable, that, from the com- 
mencement of the descent until our arrival at the 
Grand Mulet, he attached himself to my friend 
H , and adjusted his steps with the same assi- 
duity as if he had been unengrossed by personal suf- 
fering. 



Dr. Hamel^s Fatal Attempt. 123 

Joseph Marie Couttet, who from his former military 
habits, had acquired probably a familiarity with death, 
betrayed, as we thought, something approaching to in- 
sensibility on the occasion."^ He was, as has been ob- 
served, very near sharing the fate of the poor sufferers, 
and perhaps this very circumstance made him jealous 
of displaying too much feeling on the occasion. Yet, 
on his taking leave of me the following day, he ex- 
hibited so much warmth of regret, that I was affected 
almost to tears. His brother, David Couttet, another 
of the guides, was equally intrepid, and I believe was 
the means of preserving my life during the descent, 
in the passage of the glacier. My feet had shpped 
from under me, and I had rolled to the edge of the 
crevasse, when I felt myself suddenly arrested on its 
very brink, by the cord around my waist, which al- 
lowed me time to recover myself. 

**The minute details respecting the guides, with 
which I have interspersed this narrative, will not, I 
feel persuaded, be deemed impertinent by those who 
have ever been acquainted with this highly interesting 
race of men. There is about them all an honest frank- 

* He had formerly served in the Chasseurs a cheval in the 
French service, an honor which he duly appreciated. I cannot 
omit his laconic answer to a question pi'oposed to him hy one of 
the party, on the state of his mind during his rapid descent under 
the snow : — Ma foi, j'ai dit a moi-meme, c'est lini— je suis 
perdu — voil^ tout.'* 



124 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

ness of character, nnited with a simple though courte- 
ous behavior, and almost tender solicitude about the 
safety and comfort of those committed to their guid- 
ance, which cannot fail to make a lasting impression 
on those who have once known them. The delight 
which they testify at finding the traveller surmount 
difl&calties, and the looks of congratulation and en- 
couragement which they every now and then direct to- 
wards him, contribute highly to keep up his spirit, 
which else might perhaps desert him at some important 
crisis. The principal of them are well known and ap- 
preciated at Geneva ; and the reader will not therefore 
feel much wonder at the strong feeling which prevailed 
against us on our return thither. Our former compan- 
ion had found it necessary to his own credit, to exag- 
gerate exceedingly the apparent danger of proceeding 
higher ; and it must be allowed that his account, sup- 
ported as it was by the subsequent disaster, possessed 
strong claims upon the faith of his audience. I am 
happy, however, to add, that in a very few days this 
erroneous impression was completely done away with, 
and ample justice was rendered by all to the conduct 
of Dr. Hamel, who had been the most obnoxious to 
their censure, both from his being considered the leader 
of the party, and from his well-known ardor in similar 
undertakings." 



CHAPTER IX. 



SUCCESSIVE ASCENTS OF MONT BLANC — CHAMOUNI — 
A DAY ON THE GLACIEKS. 

^FTEE Doctor Hamel's accident, the snows on Mont 
Blanc remained untrodden for two years ; and then, 
on the 18th of August, 1822, Mr. Frederick Chssold 
reached the top. After this, a great many attempts 
were made ; and the hst of the successes, preserved 
at Chamouni, comprises the following names, in 
order : — 

Frederick Clissold (English) .... Aug. 18, 1822. 
Mr. Jackson (English) Sept. 4, 1823. 

Mr. Jackson was the first adventurer, who, having 
reached the summit, descended the same day to Cha- 
mouni. He accomplished the entire journey' under 
thirty-seven hours. 



Dr. Edmund Clark and Capt. Mark- 
ham Sherwill (English) .... 



I Aug. 26, 1825. 
Oh. FeUows and T. M. Hawes (English) July 25, 1827. 



126 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



Messrs. Fellows (now Sir Charles Fellows) and 
Hawes struck out a new route above the plateau, which, 
although it encountered the formidable Mur de la Gote^ 
avoided all the avalanche dangers of the old line. 
This is the one that has been ever since followed. 



John Auldjo (Scotch) ....... Aug. 9, 1827. 

Captain G. B. Wilbraham (English) . . Aug. 8, 1830. 
Dr. Martin Barry (Enghsh) .... Sept. 17, 1834. 

Count Hemy de Tilly, (French) . . .Oct. 9, 1843. 
Alfred Waddington (English) . . . . July 10, 1836. 

Gabriel Hedrengen (Swede), Sam. Pid-j 

well and Martin Atkins (English) 

M. Doulcet (French) Aug. 26, 1837. 

Ferdinand Eisenkraemer, of the Royal ^ 

Hotel, Chamounix (German), Mile. 

Henriette d'Angeville (French), M. C. 

Stoppen (Pole) 



t Aug. 23, 1837. 



^Sept 4, 1838. 



Mile. d'Angeville was the second female who reached 
the top. Her courage is reported to have been very 
great. She refused all assistance from Mr. Stoppen's 
party, and when on the summit, made the guides lift 
her up on their shoulders, that she might say she had 
been actually higher than anybody else. 



Marquis Imperial de Belanf]re (Nea-. 



' j Aug. 27, 



politan) 

Dr. Chenal, of Sallanches Aug. 26, 1841. 



Successive Ascents of Mont Blanc. 127 
Edouard Ordinaire (French) and Ed-j 



Guard Tairraz, of Ohamoimi . . ) ' 
M. JSTicliolson (English), Edouard Ordi- ] 

naire (French), and the Abbe Caux > Aug. 81, 1843. 

(Savoyard) J 

^Y. Bos worth, Edw. Cross (English), ) g t 4 Ic ' ' 

Blanc, of Bonneville ..... f ' 

This ascent derived considerable interest from the 
circumstance of Sir Thomas Talfourd, and his son, Mr. 
Francis Talfourd, havings at first, formed two of the 
party. The charming description of the mountain in 
the ^' Vacation Rambles" is well and widely known. 
The cause of their return is thus graphically described. 
After a marvellous picture of the sunset on the Grands 
Mulcts, the amiable writer goes on to say : — - 

When this pageantry of a lower heaven had passed 
away, I fell asleep, and slept without a dream. I only 
awoke once, and finding my next companion awake, 
inquired if he knew the hour, hoping that the period 
for starting had arrived. He informed me, being able 
to interpret the language of his watch^ that it was 
only ten o'clock ; but, after a minute or two's shiver, 
I fell asleep again, and slept till the guides roused me 
at ten minutes before twelve from deep and sweet 
slumber. There was no moonlight — -the only elemental 
felicity wanting to our enterprise — ^but the stars and 
the snow relieved the darkness, which vv^as also broken 




Aug. 26, 1843. 



128 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

by niimerons lanterns, wliich were already liglitecl, and 
stone among the bristling cornices of tlie rock below 
me like huge dull glow-worms. Alter the first sensa- 
tion of cold and stiffness had subsided, and the misti- 
ness that hangs over the perception of a suddenly- 
awakened sleeper in a strange place had dispersed, I 
took my pole, and picked my way down the rock, my 
steps being lighted by Julien's lantern, and soon found 
myself in the midst of the long procession of travellers 
and guides, slowly pacing the plain of snow which 
lies between the rock and the first upward slope. 
When we began to ascend, the snow was found so hard 
and so steep, that we were obliged to pause every ten 
paces, while the gu.ides with hatchets cut steps. 
Every one, I believe, performs some part well ; at 
least, few are without some grace or power, which they 
are found to possess in a peculiar degree, if the proper 
occasion occurs to rouse it into action ; and I performed 
the stopping part admirablj^ While we stood still I 
felt as if able to go on ; and it is possible that if the 
progress had always been as difficult, and consequently 
as slow and as replete with stoppages, I might event- 
ually have reached the summit — ^unless first frozen. 
But unluckily for me, these occasions of halting soon 
ceased ; for the snow became so loose, as to present no 
obstacle, excepting the necessity of sinking to the knees 
at every step. The line of march lay up long slopes 



Successive Ascents of Mont Blanc. 129 



of snow ; nothing could ever be discerned but a waste 
of snow ascending in a steep inclination before us ; no 
crevice gave us pause ; there was nothing to vary the 
toil or the pain, except that as fatigue crept on, and 
nature began to discriminate between the stronger and 
the weaker, our line was no longer continuous, but 
broken into parties, which, of course, rendered the po- 
sition of the hindermost more dispiriting. The rarity 
of the atmosphere now began to affect us ; and as 
the disorder resulting from this cause was more 
impartial than the distribution of muscular activity, 
our condition was, for a short time, almost equalized ; 
even Mr. Bosworth felt violent nausea and headache ; 
while 1 only felt, in addition to the distress of in- 
creasing weakness, the taste or scent of blood in the 
mouth, as it were about to burst from the nostrils. 
We thus reached the Grand Plateau — a long field of 
snow in the bosom of the highest pinnacles of the 
mountain — which, being nearly level, was much less 
distressing to traverse than the previous slopes ; but 
just before the commencement of the next ascent, 
which rose in a vast dim curve, the immediate occasion 
of my failure occurred. Mr. Bosworth, who was in 
advance, turned back to inform me that my son was 
so much affected by the elevation, that his guides 
thought it necessary that he should return. We halt- 
ed till we were joined by him and his guides ; on two 



130 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

of whom he was leaning, and who explained that he 
was sick and faint, and wished to lie down for a few min- 
utes, to which they would not consent, as, if he should 
fall asleep on the snow, he might never awake. The 
youth himself was anxious to proceed — quite satisfied, 
if he might only rest for a very little time, he could 
go on — but they shook their heads, and as their inter- 
ests and wishes were strongly engaged for our success, 
I felt it was impossible to trifle with such a decision. 
I could not allow him to return without me ; and, 
therefore, determined at once to abandon the further 
prosecution of the adventure ; a determination which 
I should not else have formed at that moment^ but 
which I beheve I must have adopted soon from mere 
prostration of strength ; and which, therefore, I do not 
lay in the least to the charge of his indisposition. He 
was still light of limb, and courageous in heart ; only 
afflicted by the treachery of the stomach, and dizziness 
produced by the rarity of the air ; whereas, if I had 
been supported and dragged (as perhaps I might have 
been) to the foot of the steep of La Cote, which is 
the last diflS.culty of the ascent, I do not beheve I 
should have had muscular pliancy left to raise a foot 
up a step of the long staircase, which the guides are 
obliged to cut in its frozen snow. While the guides 
were re-arranging matters for the descent, I took one 
longing, lingering glance at the upward scenery, and 



Successive Ascents of Mont Blanc. 



131 



perceived sublime indications of those lieiglits I was 
never to climb. The other parties were ascending the 
enormous curve beyond our platform, their line ex- 
hibited only by the lanterns, which seemed self-mov- 
ing along the snow amidst darkness, but marking lu- 
minously a portion of the glorious dome — regular, it 
seemed, as that of St. Paul's Cathedral — and more 
beautiful, because, springing at once into a globular 
form, and of a size compared to which all cupolas 
fashioned by hands are as those of a baby-house — 
recalling to my mind the sphere throne of the spirit 
in the hall of Eblis. 

" Silent and sad, our discomfited bands addressed 
themselves to the inglorious work of descending ; and 
each of us being supported by a rope which was held 
by a guide, moved downwards (alas !) with accelerated 
steps. Morning soon broke cold and gray over us, 
and became broad day before we regained our former 
lodging on the Grands Mulcts. Here we found cloth- 
ing and provisions which we had left, without any 
apprehension of theft ; and, with the aid of the guides, 
who wrapped the coverings about us with great adroit- 
ness, renewed our couch, and tried in vain to sleep. 
We had scarcely endeavored' to compose ourselves 
before we saw another detachment — that of one of the 
young gentlemen who had joined us from the Hotel 
de Londres — following our downward track, and soon 



132 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

welcomed him as a companion in misfortune. And 
presently a black lonely speck was discovered, slowly 
moving on tke snow, downward, yet far out of our 
track ; wko or wliat it could be was matter of puzzling 
guesses, almost of fear ; but it turned out to be an en- 
tliusiastic old man, wlio, many years ago, bad been 
one of tlie Chamouni guides, but bad been living since 
some otber life at Geneva, and being disturbed hj re- 
ports of tbe favorable condition of bis once-loved 
mountain, and of the ascents wbicb bad succeeded, 
travelled to the Prieure to join or follow some party, 
and bad modestly followed ours alone at a distance, 
in the hope of once more realizing the summit of bis 
young ambition and success. He found that be bad 
overtasked bis strength, and soon reached us, piteously 
exhausted, to obtain some relief in the consolations 
of his old comradeS; and in a participation in such frag- 
mental provisions as were left from the evening's ban- 
quet." 

Dr. Martin, Dr. Lepileur, and M. Bra- ) 1344 
vais (French) S ' 

Count Fernand de Bouille (French) . July 14, 1846. 

John Wooley and J. J. Hurt (EngUsh) Aug 5, 1846. 

Archibald Vincent Smith (English) . Aug. 11, 184.7. 

P. A. Richards . . Aug. 29, 1850. 

J. D. Gardner Sept. 3, 1850. 

Erasmus Galton Sept. 6, 1850. 

W. E. Sackville West, 0. G. Floyd, F. ) ^^^^ ^^^^ 
Philips, Albert Smith, X. Vaasittart. S 



Successive Ascents of Mont Blanc. 133 

Mr. Vansittart, who followed us up, did an uncom- 
monly plucky" tiling. He started from Cliamouni 
with one guide only ; they carried all they had be- 
tween them— slept, I can't think where, for they never 
came to the Grands Mulcts — and reached the top as 
soon as we did. Mr. Vansittart had a very narrow es- 
cape from falhng down a crevice on the Glacier des 
Bossons on his return home. 

Julius Belirens (of Manchester) . . September, 1851. 

This ascent had an unfortunate termination. One 
of the guides, Payot, had his feet frost-bitten ; and the 
fore-parts of them were amputated on his return to 
Chamouni. He now keeps a little chalet for the sale 
of refreshments on the path to Montanvert, about 
twenty minutes from the valley level. 

J. D. H. Brown,* and — Goodall (English) July, 1852. 

Seven attempts were made this season to reach the 
summit, and of these aspirants the above gentlemen 
were the only successful ones. Amongst those who 
failed were Mr. Lake Eussell and son, Mr. Somes, Mr. 
Grosvenor, Mr. Kennard, Mr. Bulwer, Mr. Usher, Mr. 
Sergeant, and Mr. John Owens, an American come- 
dian. The weather was continuously worse than had 
been known for some years. 

* This gentleman has lately published an admirable set of 
sketches of the ascent. 



134 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

I have stated tliat, wlienever I could get a short 
holiday in the a-atumn, I always went to Chamouni. 
Great changes took place, year after year, on the road. 
The old diligences disappeared as the Paris and Dijon 
line gradually extended to Chalons, and Geneva was 
brought w^ithin forty-six hours of London. New roads 
w^ere made between Greneva and Sallanches ; new 
bridges built, and new hotels opened; and lastly, a 
gambling-house w^as established in the very heart of 

Prieure !" This, however, had a yeiy brief exist- 
ence ; it was suppressed the day our party went up the 
mountain. 

But although these improvements took place, they 
produced- little change in the great features of Cha- 
mouni. The same old peaks and aiguilles rose pre- 
cisely as they did when they looked down u.pon De 
Saussure and Pococke and Windham. The same 
streams tumbled down the hills; the dirty Arve kept 
up the same ceaseless brawl over the huge boulders on 
its bed ; and the same huge rocks of granite still rode 
slowly on the glaciers. 

There are six of these glaciers which descend into 
the valley of Chamouni from the heights of the moun- 
tains, which form its boundaries ; and they are named 
from the villages near which they terminate, viz., Tac- 
conay, Gris, Bossons, Bois, Tour, and Argenti^re. The 
glacier Du Bois is by far the most considerable of these, 



G HAMOUNI. 



135 



and its upper part forms the celebrated Mer de Glace, 
whicli is so called from its alleged resemblance to a sea 
suddenly frozen and spell-bound in the midst of a rag- 
ing tempest ; the analogy is, however, not perfect ; it 
might be more properly compared in shape to a vast 
ploughed field, whose ridges varied from ten to twenty 
feet in height, intercepted by deep transverse fissures, 
in some places four hundred feet deep, such being the 
ascertained thickness of the ice in particular parts of 
this mighty glacier. 

The traveller who visits the valley of Chamouni can 
undertake various highly interesting expeditions to the 
celebrated spots in the vicinity of the village ; but the 
most interesting excursion, is to the " Jardin," a small, 
verdant patch in the centre of the glacier du Talefre, 
amidst the perpetual snow and 8,500 feet above the 
level of the sea. The journey should not be under- 
taken but by persons of a steady brain and firm grasp, 
since there are some situations during the route, 
where giddiness or nervous timidity might prove un- 
pleasant. 

I had several times traversed the valley of Cha- 
mouni before I was tempted to visit this extraordinary 
spot. A gentleman whom I met by chance at the 
Hotel de Londres, in the village, had given me so 
pleasing an account of the excursion, which he repre- 
sented as teemmg with wonder and excitement, that I 



136 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

determined tlie same niglit to attempt to accomplisli it, 
and by good fortune found two other tourists who were 
willing to accompany me. We started from the dinner 
table that same evening to hire our guides, learning 
that two were necessary, and were fortunate in secur- 
ing Julian Devouassoud for one, who accompanied 
the party in the fatal attempt of 1820, and also formed 
one of Mr. Auldjo's party in 1827. 

The excursion occupies fifteen hours, ten of which 
are spent on the glacier. As we were anxious to accom- 
phsh it in one day, we had agreed to meet our guides 
not later than five the ensuing morning ; and as the 
hour sounded from the church of Ohamouni we left 
the village, intending to breakfast at Montanvert, an 
elevated pasturage, which overlooks the Mer de Grlace. 
The ascent to this point occupies about two hours. 
The path in some places is little more than a series of 
steep, awkward stairs, formed of smooth rock, over 
which, nevertheless, the mules, who carry ladies to 
Montanvert; contrive to clamber without accident. 
The track lies nearly the whole way through a forest 
of pines, which permit occasional glimpses of the val- 
ley below ; and here and there the path traverses a fis- 
sure crowded with trunks of trees and the debris of the 
mountain, marking the devastation committed at a for- 
mer period by a spring avalanche. About half way 
up, the traveller arrives at a clear spring of water bub- 



A Day on the G-laciers. 



137 



bling from the rock, round which a few children are 
generally clustered, who offer milk and fruit, with 
specimens of local minerals, for sale. The fountain, 
which commands a lovely view of Chamouni, many 
hundred feet below, is celebrated as the spot where 
Florain composed the greater part of his story of 
Claudine. But this the tourist can beheve, or not, as 
he chooses. In about half an hour's walk from this 
point you first perceive the ice of the glacier sparkling 
amongst the trees that border it, and every now and 
then a large block, sliding from its resting place, pro- 
duces a noise resembling thunder. The journey to 
Montanvert alone is interesting to visitors, although 
the road is not quite so smooth as the paths about our 
own English hills, yet it is but moderately fatiguing, 
and may be accomplished with no other guides than 
your own eyes and a plain Alpine mountain pole. 

We arrived at the first halting-place a little after 
seven, and immediately ordered breakfast in the chalet, 
which is built upon Montanvert, and overlooks the 
Mer de Grlace, and the stupendous Aiguilles on the 
other side. 

We dispatched our meal in high spirits, and having 
waited for the guides to store their knapsacks with 
cold meat, wine, and small loaves, for our dinner on 
the glacier, we left the chalet at a quarter to eight, 
Devouassoud leading the way, and the other guide fol- 



138 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

lowing lis. For two or tliree hundred yards tlie path 
skirted the glacier, and was tolerably pleasant walking, 
abounding in wild flowers, and covered by a delicate 
heath. It then ascended the side of the mountain, 
running about one hundred feet above the glacier, and 
presently appeared to stop short at an enormouG rock 
of smooth granite, called Le Pont^ and forming one of 
the most awkward passes in the excursion. I was 
contemplating the possibility of proceeding any further, 
v/hen Devouassoud, coolly exclaiming, " Suivez moi^ 
messieurs^ s'il vous plait^'''' laid hold of a projecting ledge, 
and, springing like a chamois, set his foot in a small 
excavation barely three inches deep, from whence he 
crawled on to the face of the rock which overhung the 
glacier. It v^as a minute or two before I could collect 
sufficient nerve to follow him, nor were my fellow- 
travellers less timid. We however, contrived literally to 
tread in his footsteps ; and leaning towards the inclining 
face of the rock, with our iron-shod poles in our left 
hand, we crept cautiously onwards, never daring to look 
down upon the glacier, w^hich was at an awfal depth 
below us. I can compare the passage to nothing better 
than clinging sideways along the tiles of a steeply- 
pitched house, with no other footing or hold than oc- 
casional inequalities or ridges, and the certain prospect 
of being instantaneously dashed to pieces should these 
fail you. There are two of these awkward ridges to 



A Day on the Glaciers. 139 

traverse — Le Grand and Le Petit Pont^ both of which 
are equally hazardous, and I should think, in wet 
weather, almost impracticable. On quitting these 
rocks, which we did with no small gratification, we 
continued descending for some distance, and in about 
twenty minutes reached the edge of the glacier or 
moraine^ as it is termed — a confused mass of blocks of 
granite, ice, and wet grit, which is extremely trouble- 
some, and, indeed, painful to traverse, from the inse- 
cure footing that it affords. There is no absolute dan- 
ger ; but you stand a chance of dislocating your ancles 
at every step, and the edges of the granite rocks are 
so sharp as to wound your hands in the event of your 
slipping. Devouassoud, as usual, went first, and where 
he saw a treaclierous block, kicked it out of the way, 
and it went thundering down the edge of the moraine^ 
generally trailing half a dozen others in its course. 
We passed a crevice in the wall of lofty Aiguilles 
which rose on our right, called La Grande Cheminee^ 
to which a melancholy interest is attached. A young 
Englishman, about twenty years ago, was at Cha- 
mouni with his wife, during their wedding toi^r. He 
was extremely fond of botany, and with a view of 
forming a dried collection of Alpine plants, had made 
an excursion from Montanvert to ih.Q base of . the 
Aiguille de Gharmoz^ the lofty peak which rose over 
the point we were now traversing. He had been im- 



140 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

prudent enough to venture to these wild heights with- 
out a gTiide ; and in the endeavor, it is presumed, to 
secure a fine specimen of the gentiana^ lost his balance, 
and fell down to the moraine of the glacier, a height 
of two hundred and fifty feet. His body was not dis- 
covered until two days afterwards, when it was found 
by a party proceeding to the Jardin, still grasping the 
plant in his hand. It was a task of extreme difficulty 
to convey the body across Les Fonts, but the guides 
ultimately brought it to Chamouni, and the ill-fated 
young man was, I believe, subsequently buried at 
Lausanne. 

After an hour's severe labor, in which we several 
times left our shoes behind us in the clefts of the 
granite, we emerged from the moraine upon the glacier. 
It is here that the sagacity and hardihood of the 
guides is displayed. They appear to have a miracu- 
lous instinct in choosing a practicable route among its 
clefts, and leap over the chasms that yawn on every 
side with a boldness and certainty that is really won- 
derful. 

We passed several enormous rocks which had been 
split from the parent mountains by the force of storms 
or avalanches, and were now riding on the surface of 
the 'glacier. Devouassoud told us that, in time, from 
the constant advance of the glacier, these blocks would 
come down to Chamouni; but this, of course, would 



A Day on the Glaciers. 



141 



be tlie journey of centuries. He added, ttat in Ms 
own recollection they had moved several yards. We 
were shown, near one of them, a fearful hole in the 
ice, which the guides termed Le Moulin. Its depth was 
unknown — it had been plumbed to three hundred 
feet ; and a torrent was roaring and chafing within it 
with a noise that was perfectly terrific. 

To those who feel any interest in the nature of a 
glacier, there is a curious phenomenon to be seen 
during the excursion to the Jardin, near the moulin I 
have just noticed. At this spot three large glaciers 
unite; — the Grlacier du Lechaud, from the Jorasses; 
the Grlacier du Talefre, from the heights around it ; 
and the Glacier du Tacul, direct from Mont Blanc. 
These three leviathians of the Alps, each pressing on- 
wards, keep up a continued warfare with each other 
for superiority, in which the Tacul has the advantage, 
from its magnitude and line of descent ; and a scene 
of inconceivable confusion is the result — their oppos- 
ing power splitting and tossing about huge cubes of 
granite, of twenty or thirty feet square, like so many 
nutshells. Beyond this point, the surface of the 
Glacier du Tacul is perfectly level ; and, to adopt De- 
vouassoud's expression, a diligence might be driven 
along it, if it could only be got there.'^ 

We crossed the moraines of these large fields of ice, 
and immediately commenced ascending the Couvercle 



142 The Stouy of Mont Blanc. 

— a steep and lofty rock shooting np directly from the 
glacier. If the passage of the Fonts had been the most 
hazardous part of our journey, probably this was 
the most fatiguing. The sun was shining with op- 
pressive force directly upon us, and we were obliged 
to rest every ten or twelve steps to draw our breath ; 
the altitude we had attained tending, no doubt, 
although but in a slight degree, to add to our exhaus- 
tion, for we were now more than eight thousand feet 
above the level of the sea, and the ascent so precipi- 
tous, that in climbing up the steep sides, our feet were 
generally in close approximation to the heads of those 
immediately behind us. 

The Glacier du Talefre in all the beauty of its white 
pyramids, and sparkling, unsullied waves, now broke 
upon us ; and quitting the sure ground of the Cou- 
vercle, we followed Devouassoud as he advanced upon 
its treacherous surface. The heat of the day had 
thawed its upper layer, and we sank knee-deep, at 
every step, in a todge of half-melted snow and ice. The 
guides were most urgent in begging us to tread as 
nearly as possible in their footmarks, as some of the 
tracks which appeared smooth and easy of passage, 
were merely bridges of snow thrown over chasms of 
immeasurable depth, which the slightest weight would 
cause to fall. Wherever there existed a doubt as to 
the practicability of crossing from one wave of the 



A Day on the Gtlaciers. 



143 



glacier to another, Devouassouad sounded the snow 
carefully with his ice-pole, nor would he allow us to 
move until he had ascertained its firmness ; and yet I 
was informed by Mr. Auldjo that this brave guide, 
who knows not what danger means amidst the peaks 
and crevices of his own glaciers, was so frightened by 
a slight ruffle of the water on crossing the lake of 
Geneva, that he laid himself down at the bottom of 
the boat, and cried like a child. 

About half-past twelve, we landed, if I may use the 
term, on the edge of the verdant ledge that forms the 
Jardin, heartily glad to arrive at the termination of 
our journey. We ascended its green slope for about 
fifty yards, and then threw ourselves down upon the 
ground, completely ''dead beat," whilst the guides 
disencumbered themselves of their knapsacks, which 
contained our provisions. We had now leisure to 
regard the scene around us, and it was of an imposing 
and extraordinary nature. Immediately in front, the 
long, unbroken surface of the Glacier du Tacul ran 
directly to the summit of Mont Blanc, whose apex 
was invested with a light^ fleecy cloud, which was 
perpetually drifting to leeward, and somewhat resem- 
bled the smoke from a chimney. '' Mont Blanc is 
smoking his cigar," said Devouassoud ; so much the 
better — we shall have a fine evening." Many hundred 
feet below us were the glistening waves of the Mex de 



144 The Story or Mont Blanc. 

Glace, bounded to our right bj the Aiguille des Char- 
moz, and on our left by the Grandes Jorasse ; at the 
foot of which range an English lady and her daughter 
once slept, amidst the eternal snow, during their extra- 
ordinary passage of the Col Du Geant. The J ardin 
itself was a small grassy hillock, at the side of a nat- 
ural basin of vast dimensions formed of granite rocks, 
the only outlet to which was by the precipitous fall of 
the Glacier du Talefre. Blocks of gneiss and granite, 
the debris of the winter tempests, were scattered about 
it, with several small pieces of crystal, and some 
Alpine plants were blooming in the more sheltered 
crevices ; but beyond its limits all was desolation and 
silence. Even a bee attracted our attention, as it flew 
humming by the spot we had selected for our repast ; 
we felt that, had we been alone, the very presence of 
an insect would have enlivened our solitude. Devou- 
assoud informed me that the Jardin was a favorite re- 
sort of the Chamouni chamois-hunters, in consequence 
of its being the nearest pasturage for these animals 
during the autumnal months. 

We did full justice to the frugal meal which the 
guides had provided for us ; and although it was con- 
fined to a piece of plain cold boiled mutton, with bread 
and salt, I thought I had never tasted anything so de- 
licious. We had also three bottles of light claret, 
which we drank from portable leather cups, and we 



A Day on the Glaciers. 145 

gave toasts and sang songs until the rocks echoed 
again with our merriment. We saw several corks and 
broken bottles lying about, which gave traces of for- 
mer revellers having -been to the Jardin ; indeed, we 
were told that, now and then, young ladies were found 
bold enough to make the attempt. How on earth 
they contrive to traverse the Fonts, or climb the Cou- 
vercle, I cannot very well make out ; yet, although 
the expedition is certainly one not particularly calcu- 
lated for females to undertake, we were rather pleased 
than annoyed at hearing that the majority of the fair 
adventurers were English girls. 

About two o'clock p.m., we once more prepared to 
start, being perfectly refreshed by our repast. We 
had scarcely left the rock, when an accident occurred, 
^hich might have thrown a sad gloom over our day's 
enterprise. One of my companions, who appeared a 
little excited by the wine and novelty of our situa- 
tion combined, instead of keeping in the wake of the 
guides, as we descended the rapid pitch of the Glacier 
du Talefre, amused himself by sliding down the small 
slopes, in spite of our remonstrances, guiding himself 
with his baton. By some accident, the pole hitched in 
the ice as he was holding it before him, and the top of 
it catching him under the chin, threw him violently 
upon his back, at the same time grazing his neck se- 
verely. He must have fallen with some force, as the 

7 



146 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



pole snapped in two with the shock. Losing his equi- 
librium immediately, he glided rapidly down the wave 
of ice, and the next instant was completely hidden from 
us in a large drift of snow. We were exceedingly 
alarmed, and called out loudly to know if he was safe ; 
no answer was returned, and we stood in horrible sus- 
pense, until we saw him, a minute afterwards, emerge 
from the side of the drift furthest from us, and wave 
his cap, which signal we returned with cheers. We 
directly gave Devouassoud our poles, who tied them 
together with our handkerchiefs, and by this means 
assisted our companion up the opposite side of the 
trough, if it may be called so. He was more fright- 
ened than hurt, except the graze under his chin, and 
did not seem inclined to venture any more out of the 
track. The guides said, that it was just as probable 
as not for the slope to have ended in a crevice, when 
nothing could have saved him, had it been sufficiently 
large for him to have fallen into ; and upon the Mer 
de Glace they usually average from two to ten leet in 
breadth. 

I had expected that we should descend to Montan- 
vert in much less time than we had performed the up- 
ward journey, but I found my calculations totally 
wrong, as the afternoon sun had thawed the whole 
surface of the glacier, and we were obliged to walk 
with great caution, occasionally losing our shoes for a 



A Day on the Q-laciepwS. 



147 



moment in tbe soft snow. We found some small piles 
of stones and pieces of ice, which the guides had built 
up as we came along, of great utility in pointing our 
track in returning, since nothing is more easy than to 
lose the path amidst the intricacies and crevices of the 
glacier. We heard several avalanches fall as we de- 
scended, but they were too remote to cause any appre- 
hension, although their echoing chute had something 
awful in it, in these remote solitudes. As we advanced 
lower down the Mer de Glace, we could discern the 
chalet on the Flegere, which forms the northern boun- 
dary of the valley of Chamouni, opposite the glacier ; 
and in another half hour we were in view of Montan- 
vert, where we had taken breakfast in the morning. 
We were now enabled to make better progress, as the 
ice was firmer, being shaded by the mountains that en- 
compassed it, and our footing was surer, from the day's 
practice; indeed, we almost ran along ledges of ice, 
that we had with timidity crept across in the morning. 
The passage of the Fonts was, however, quite as difficult 
as we had before found it, possibly from our being 
• compelled to grasp every projection with our left hand. 
At half-past five we reached the hut at Montanvert, 
and in two hours more descended to Chamouni, hav- 
ing been on our legs since five in the morning, with 
the exceptions of the intervals of breakfast and dinner. 
We gave the guides ten francs each, and the expenses 



148 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

of our breakfasts and dinners, including the wine, were 
eighteen francs more. This we paid between ns, and 
I can safely aflS.rm I never laid out money with greater 
pleasure than in making this excursion, which without 
partaking of the danger and outlay of the ascent of 
Mont Blanc, is still highly interesting, and abounding 
in novel and stupendous effects. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE author's ascent IN 1851. 

JJURING my subsequent visits to Chamouni, I al- 
ways put up at tlie Hotel de Londres. It was by 
no means so grand or well-appointed an establishment 
as the new Hotel Eoyal across the river ; but old asso- 
ciations made it very agreeable to me. They had 
treated me very well in my old student days, and 
Madame Tairraz was always indefatigable in her cour- 
tesies to all the visitors, however humble their ap- 
pointments. It was almost worth while being slightly 
ill there, to experience her kind domestic attentions. 

Jean Tairraz, who lived opposite, was a very honest, 
hard-working man, with a large family, and he was 
usually my companion. We used to walk about to- 
gether, and talk of the practicability of ascending 
Mont Blanc ; and at last I promised him that the next 
time I came to Chamouni, we would make the attempt. 

All the winter through, the intention haunted me. 
I knew from my engagements in periodical literature, 



150 The Stohy of Mont Blanc. 

that the effort must be a mere scamper — a spasm al- 
most when it was made ; but at length a free fortnight 
presented itself. I found my old knapsack in a store- 
room, and I beat out the moths and spiders, and filled 
it as of old; and on the 1st of August, 1851, I left 
London Bridge in the maihtrain of the South-Eastern 
Eailway, with my Lord Mayor and other distinguished 
members of the corporation, who were going to the 
fetes at Paris«»in honor of the Exhibition, and who, 
not having a knapsack under their seat, lost all their 
luggage, as is no doubt chronicled in the city archives, 
I had not undergone the least training for my work. 
I came from my desk to the railway, from the railway 
to the diligence, and from that to the char-d-hanc ; and 
on the night of my arrival at Chamouni I sent for 
Tairraz, and we sat upon a bit of timber on the edge 
of the Arve, consulting upon the practicability of the 
ascent. He feared the weather was going to change, 
and that I was scarcely in condition to attempt it ; but 
he would call a meeting of the chief guides at his little 
curiosity-shop next morning, and let me know the 
result. I made up my mind, at the same time, to walk 
as much as I could ; and, on the second day of my 
arrival, I v/ent twice to the Mer de Glace, and, indeed, 
crossed to the other side by myself. In the court-yard 
of the Hotel de Londres, on the Friday afternoon, I 
had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of three 



The Author's Ascent in 1851 



151 



young gentlemen who had come from Ouchy on the 
Lake of Geneva, with the intention, also, of trying 
the ascent. It was immediately settled that we should 
unite our caravans; and that same evening Jean 
Tairraz, Jean Tairraz the elder, Jean Carrier, and 
Gedeon Balmat, met us to settle our plans. The 
weather had unfortunately changed. It rained con- 
stantly. The wind came up the valley — always a bad 
sign^ — -and the clouds were so low, that we could not 
even see the Aiguilles, nor the top of the Brevent. 
But so determined were we to go, that, at all risks, we 
should have ventured. Every arrangement of food, 
covering, &c., was left to M. Edouard Tairraz, the land- 
lord of the excellent Hotel de Londres ; and it was 
understood that we were all to keep in readiness to 
start at half an hour's notice. My young friends, who 
had been in regular training for some time, continued 
to perform prodigies of pedestrianism. I did as much 
as I could ; but, unfortunately, was taken so poorly on 
my return from Montanvert on the Monday — I suspect 
from sudden overwork, and sitting about in the wet — 
that I was obliged to lie down on my bed for four or 
five hours on my return to the hotel, and in very low 
spirits, I began to despair of success. 

All this time the weather never improved ; it rained 
unceasingly. We almost rattled the barometer to 
pieces in our anxiety to detect a change; and Jean 



152 The Story of 3Ioxt Blaxc. 

made an excursion Vy'itli me to the cottage of one of 
the Balmats — the very same house spoken of in my old 
book, " The Peasants of Chamouni ' — who was reported 
to have a wonderful and valuable weather-guide, the 
like of which had never been seen before in the valley, 
called Le Menteiir by the neighbors, because it always 
foretold the reverse of what would happen. This 
turned out to be one of the little Dutch houses, with 
the meteorological lady and gentleman occupiers. The 
lady, in her summer costume^ was most provokingly 
abroad, and the worse fears were entertained. Whilst, 
however, we were at dinner that day, all the fog rolled 
away clean out of the valley, as if by magic. The 
mists rose up the aiguilles like flocks of steam from a 
valley railway ; the sun broke out, and M. Tairraz 
cried out from the top of the table — " Voild le beau 
temps qui vient; voiis ferez une belle ascension^ Messieurs ; 
et demavny 

We thought no more of dinner that day ; all was 
now hurry and preparation. At every stove in the 
kitchen, fowls, and legs and shouldei^ of mutton were 
turning. The guides were beating up the porters, 
who were to carry the heavier baggage as far as the 
edge of the glacier ; the peasants were soliciting us to 
be allowed to join the party as volunteers ; and the 
inhabitants of the village, generally, had collected in 
the small open space between the church and the Hotel 



The Author's Ascent in 1851 



153 



de rUnion, and were talking over the cliances of the 
excursion — for the mere report of an attempt puts them 
all in a bustle. "We walked about Chamouni that night 
with heads erect and an imposing step. People pointed 
at us, and came from the hotels to see what we were 
like. For that evening, at least, we were evidently 
great persons. 

The sun went down magnificently, and everything 
promised a glorious day on the morrow. I collected 
all my requisites. Our host lent me a pair of high 
gaiters, and Madame Tairraz gave me a fine pair of 
scarlet garters to tie them up with. I also bought a 
green veil, and Jean brought me a pair of blue spec- 
tacles. In my knapsack I put other shoes, socks, and 
trousers, and an extra shirt ; and I got a new spike 
driven into my baton, for the glacier. I was still far 
from well, but the excitement pulled me through all 
discomfort. I did not sleep at all that night, from anx- 
iety as to the success of the undertaking : I knew all 
the danger ; and when I made a little parcel of my 
money, and the few things I had in my ^^kit," and 
told my friend, Mr. William Beverley, who had come 
with me from London, to take them home if I did not 
return, I am afraid my attempt to be careless about the 
matter was a failure. I had set a small infernal ma- 
chine, that made a hideous noise at appointed hours, 

to go off at six ; but I believe I heard every click it 

1 



154 



The Story of Mont Blan-c. 



gave, all througli the niglit ; and I forestalled its office 
in the morning, by getting out of bed myself at sun- 
rise and stopping it. 

We met at seven o'clock on the morning of Tuesday 
the 12th, to breakfast. All our guides and porters had 
a feast in the garden, and were in high spirits— for the 
glass had gone up half an inch, and not a cloud was to 
be seen in the sky. Nothing could exceed the bustle of 
the' inn-yard: everybody had collected to see the start; 
the men were dividing and portioning the fowls, and 
bottles of wine, and rugs, and wrappers; something 
was constantly being forgotten, and nobody could find 
whatever was of most importance to them ; and the 
good-tempered cook — -another Tairraz — ^kept coming 
forth from the kitchen with so many additional viands, 
that I began to wonder when our stores would be com- 
pleted. The list of articles of food which we took up 
was as follows. 

I^OTE Kg. 1. 

PEOYISIONS rOE THE ASCENT OF MONT BLANO. 

Hotel de Londres, Chamouni, August 12, 1851. 

Francs. 

60 bottles of Yin Ordinaire .... 60 

6 do. Bordeaux 36 

10 do. St. George 30 

15 do. St. Jean 30 

3 do. Cognac 15 

1 do. syrup of raspberries .... 8 



The Author's Ascent in 1851. 155 

Francs. 

6 bottles of lemonade . . . . . 6 

2 do. champagne 14 

20 loaves 30 

10 small clieeses 8 

6 packets of chocolate 9 

6 do. sugar 6 

4 do. prunes 6 

4 do. raisins 6 

2 do. salt 1 

4 wax candles 4 

6 lemons ....... 1 

4 legs of mutton ...... 24 

4 shoulders, do. 12 

6 pieces of veal .30 

1 piece of beef ...... 5 

11 large fowls 30 

35 small do 87 

Total 456 



About half-past seven we started ; and as we left 

the inn, and traversed the narrow ill-paved streets of 

Chamouni towards the bridge, I believe we formed the 

largest caravan that had ever gone off together. Each 

of us had four guides, making twenty in all and the 

* The following were the names of our guides, copied from my 
certificate of the ascent : — Jean Tairraz, elder, Jean Tairraz, Jean 
Carrier, GedeonBalmat, Michael Couttet, Frederick Tairraz, Pierre 
Cachat, Michael Couttet, Francois Cachat, Joseph Tairraz, Joseph 
Tissay, Edouard Carrier, Michael Devouassoud, Auguste Devous- 
saud, Francois Favret. One guide — I forgot his name — was 
poorly, and could not sign, the next morriino;. 



156 



The Story of Mont Blanc. 



porters and volunteers I . may reckon at another score ; 
besides which; there was a rabble rout of friends, and 
relations, and sweethearts, and boys, some of whom 
came a considerable distance with us. I had a mule 
waiting for me at the bridle-road that runs through the 
fields towards the dirty little village of Les Pelerins — 
for I wished to keep myself as fresh as I could for the 
real work. I do not think I gained anything by this, 
for the brute was exeedingly troublesome to manage 
up the rude steep path and amongst the trees. I ex- 
pect my active young companions had the best of it 
on their own good legs. Dressed, at present, in light 
boating attire, they were types of fellows in first-rate 
fibrous muscular condition ; and their sunny good 
temper, never once clouded during the journey, made 
everything bright and cheering. 

The first two hours of the ascent presented no re- 
markable - features, either of difficulty or prospect. 
The path was very steep and rugged, through a stunted 
copse of pines and shrubs, between which we saw on 
our right the glistening ice-towers of the lower part of 
the Glacier des Bossbns. On our left was the ravine, 
along which the torrent courses to form the Cascade 
des Pelerins. The two nice girls who keep the little 
chalet at the waterfall, came across the wood to wish 
us God-speed. J ulie Favret, the prettier of the two, 
was said to be engaged to our guide Jean Carrier — a 



The Author's Ascent in 1851. 157 

splendid young fellow — so they lingered behind our 
caravan some little time ; and when Jean rejoined us, 
an unmerciful shower of badinage awaited him. We 
kept on in single file, winding backwards and forwards 
amongst the trees, until we came to the last habitation 
up the mountain, which is called the Chalet de la 
Para ; and here I was glad to quit my mule, and pro- 
ceed with the rest on foot. From this point the vege- 
tation gradually became more scanty ; and at last, even 
the fir-trees no longer grew about us. The hill-side 
was bare and arid, covered with the debris of the 
spring avalanches — amongst which tufts of alpine 
rhododendron were blowing— and some goats were 
trying very hard to pick up a living. Our caravan 
was now spread about far and wide ; but at half-past 
nine we came to an enormous block of granite called 
the Pierre Pointue, and here we reunited our forces 
and rested awhile. During our halt the porters re- 
adjusted their packs ; and some who had carried or 
dragged up billets of wood with them which they found 
on the way, chopped them into lengths and tied them 
on to their knapsacks. The weight some of these men 
marched under was surprising. Hitherto we had been 
on the ridge of one of the mighty buttresses of Mont 
Blanc, which hem in the glaciers between them ; we 
had now to cling along its side to gain the ice. This 
part of the journey requires a strong head; here, and 



158 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

towards the termination of tlie ascent, dizziness would 
be fatal. Along the side of tlie mountain, wliicli is all 
but perpendicular, the goats have worn a rude track, 
scarcely a foot broad. On your left your shoulder rubs 
the rock ; and on your right there is a frightful preci- 
pice, at the bottom of which, hundreds of feet below 
you, is that confusion of ice, granite blocks, stones, 
and dirty roaring water, which forms in its ensemble 
the boundary of a glacier. The view is superb, but 
you dare not look at it. It is only when the loose 
ground crumbles away beneath your feet, and you 
nearly slide away over the precipice — you would 
do so if the guide did not seize you by the arm 
with the sudden grip of a vice — ^that you give up star- 
ing about you, and do nothing but carfully watch the 
footsteps of the man who is going on before. The 
path goes up and down — ^its gTadual tendency, how- 
ever, is to descend ; and in about twenty minutes we 
had arrived at the bottom of the ravine. Here we had 
another half-hour's troublesome scramble over loose 
boulder's which threw and twisted our ancles about in 
every direction, until at last we gained the second 
station, if it may so be called, of our journey — another 
huge rock called the Pierre a I'Echelle, under shelter 
of which a ladder is left from one year's end to the 
other, and is carried on by the guides, to assist them 
in passing the crevices on the glacier. The remains 



The Author's Ascent in 1851. 159 

of an old one were likewise lying here, and tlie rungs 
of it were immediately seized for firewood. 

We were now four thousand feet above Chamouni, 
and the wonders of the glacier world were breaking 
upon us. The edge of the ice was still half an hour's 
walk beyond this rock, but it appeared close at hand 
— ^literally within a stone's throw. So vast is every 
thing that surrounds the traveller — there is such an 
utter absence of any comprehensible standard of com- 
parison — his actual presence is so insignificant — a mere 
unheeded, all but invisible speck on this mountain 
world — that every idea of proportionate size or dis- 
tance is lost. And this impossibility of calculation is 
still further aided by the bright clear air, seen through 
which the granite outlines miles away are as sharply 
defined as those of the rocks you have quitted but 
half an hour ago. 

Far below us, long after the torrents had lost them- 
selves in little gray threads amongst the pine- woods, 
we saw the valley of Chamouni, with its fields and 
pastures parcelled out into parti-colored districts, like 
the map of an estate sale ; and we found the peaks of 
other mountains beginning to show above and beyond 
the lofty Brevent. Above us, mighty plains of snow 
stretched far and away in all directions ; and through 
them the ice-crags and pinnacles of the two glaciers, 
Bossons and Taconnay, were every where visible. On 



160 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

either side of iis, at the distance perhaps of a couple of 
miles from each other, were the two hnge buttresses of 
Mont Blanc which form the channel of the glacier be- 
fore alluded to. Along one of these we had come up 
from the valley ; De Saussure chose the other when he 
made his ascent in 1787. High up the sides of these 
mountains were wondrous cornices of ice of incalcu- 
lable weight threatening to fall every instant. Pieces 
now and then tumbled down with a noise like distant 
thunder ; but they were not large enough to be dan- 
gerous. Had a block of several tons descended at 
once, its momentum would have carried it along the 
glacier, sweeping everything before it, and of this oc- 
currence the guides are constantly in dread. 

We rested here nearly half an hour ; and it was not 
until we unpacked some of our cold fowls from the 
Galignanis in which they were rolled that we found 
our knives and forks had been left behind. Tairraz 
thought Balmat had them — and Balmat had told Car- 
rier to look after them — and Carrier had seen them 
on the bench outside the hotel just as we started, 
and expected young Devouassoud had put them in his 
knapsack — and so it went on. But nobody in the end 
had brought them. Most of us, however, had pocket- 
knives ; and what we could not carve, we pulled to 
pieces with our fingers, and made a famous meal. The 
morning was so bright, and the air so pure, and the 



The Author's Ascent in 1851. 161 

view so grand, and we were already so fatigued — or 
fancied we were — that I believe, if the guides had not 
beaten us up again into marching order, we should have 
dawdled about this Pierre a I'Echelle for half the 
day. So we took our batons and started off again ; 
and after a troublesome scuffle over the grimy border 
of the glacier we reached its clean edge, and bade 
good-by to firm footing and visible safety for the rest 
of the excursion. 

The first portion of the journey across the Glacier 
des Bossons is easy enough, provided always that the 
outer crust of the snow lying upon it is tolerably hard. 
We marched on in single file, the guides taking it by 
turns to lead (as the first man had of course the heav- 
iest work), amidst cliffs and hillocks, and across sloping 
fields and uplands, all of dazzling whiteness. I here 
observed, for the first time, the intense dark-blue color 
which the sky apparently assumes. This may be only 
by comparison with the unsubdued glare from the 
snow on all sides — since, on making a kind of lorgnette 
with my two hands, and looking up, as I might have 
done on a picture, there was nothing unusual in the 
tint. Our veils and glasses now proved great comforts, 
for the sun was scorching, and the blinding light from 
the glaciers actually distressing. By degrees our road 
became less practicably easy. We had to make zigzag 
paths up very steep pitches, and go out of our line to 



162 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

circumvent threatening ice-blocks or suspected crev- 
ices. The porters, too, began to grumble, and there 
was a perpetual wrangling going on between them and 
the guides as to the extent of their auxiliary march ; 
and another bottle of wine had constantly to be added to 
the promised reward when they returned to Chamouni. 
All this time we had been steadily ascending ; and at 
last the glacier was so broken, and the crevices so fre- 
quent and hugely gaping, that the guides tied us and 
themselves together with cords, leaving a space of 
about eight feet between each two men, and prepared 
for serious work. 

The traveller who has only seen the Mer de Glace 
can form no idea of the terrific beauty of the upper part 
of the Glacier des Bossons. He remembers the lower 
portions of the latter, which appears to rise from the 
very cornfields and orchards of Chamouni with its tow- 
ers and ruins of the purest ice, like a long fragment of 
quartz inconceivably magnified ; and a few steps from 
the edge of Montanvert will show him the icy chasms 
of the Mer. But they have httle in common with the 
wild and awful tract we were now preparing to trav- 
erse. The Glacier des Bossons, spUtting away from 
that of Tacconay, is rent and torn and tossed about by 
convulsions scarcely to be comprehended ; and the al- 
ternate action of the nightly frost and the afternoon 
sun on this scene of splendid desolation and horror, 



The A uthor's Ascent IN 1 85 1 . 163 

produces tlie most extraordinary effects. Huge bergs 
rise up of a lovely pale sea-green color, perforated by 
arches decorated every day with fresh icicles many feet 
in length ; and through these arches one sees other 
fantastic masses, some thrown like bridges across 
yawning gulfs, and others planted like old castles on 
jutting rocks commanding valleys and gorges, all of 
ice. There is here no plain surface to walk upon ; 
your only standing room is the top of the barrier that 
divides two crevices ; and as this is broad or narrow, 
terminating in another frightful gulf, or continuous 
with another treacherous ice-wall, so can you be slow 
or rapid. The breadth of the crevices varies with 
each one you arrive at, and these individually vary 
constantly, so that the most experienced guide can have 
no fixed plan of route. The fissure you can leap across 
to-day, becomes by to-morrow a yawning gulf. 

Young Devouassoud now took the lead, with a light 
axe to cut out footsteps and hand-holds with when ne- 
cessary, and we all followed, very cautiously placing 
our feet in the prints already made. Choisez vos pas^'''' 
was a phrase we heard every minute. Our progress 
was necessarily very slow ; and sometimes we brought 
up altogether for a quarter of an hour, whilst a council 
was held as to the best way of surmounting a difficulty. 
Once only the neck of ice along which we had to pass 
was so narrow that I preferred crossing it saddle-fash- 



164 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

ion, and so working myself on with my hands. It was 
at points similar to this that I was most astonished at 
the daring and sure-footedness of the guides. They 
took the most extraordinary jumps, alighting upon 
banks of ice that shelved at once clean down to the 
edges of frightful crevices, to which their feet appeared 
to cling like those of flies. And yet we were all shod 
alike, in good stout shooting-shoes," with a double 
row of hobnails ; but, where I was sliding and tum- 
bling about, they stood like rocks. In all this there 
was, however, little physical exertion for us ; it was 
simply a matter of nerve and steady head. Where 
the crevice was small, we contrived to jump over it 
with tolerable coolness ; and where it was three or four 
feet in breadth, we made a bridge of the ladder, and 
walked over on the rounds. There is no great diffi- 
culty, to be sure, in doing this, when a ladder lies on 
the ground ; but with a chasm of unknown depth be- 
low it, it is satisfactory to get to the other side as 
quickly as possible. 

At a great many points the snow made bridges, 
which we crossed easy enough. Only one was per- 
mitted to go over at a time ; so that, if it gave way, 
he might remain suspended by the rope attached to the 
main body. Sometimes we had to make long detours 
to get to the end of a crevice, too wide to cross any- 
way ; at others, we would find ourselves all wedged 



The Author's Ascent in 1851. 165 

together, not daring to move, on a neck of ice tliat at 
first I could scarcely have thought adequate to have 
afforded footing to a goat. When we were thus fixed, 
somebody cut notches in the ice, and climbed up or 
down as the cas@ required ; then the knapsacks were 
pulled up or lowered ; then we followed, and, finally, 
the rest got on as they could. One scramble we had 
to make was rather frightful. The reader must imag- 
ine a valley of ice, very narrow, but of unknown 
depth. Along the middle of this there ran a cliff, 
also of ice, very narrow at the top, and ending sud- 
denly, the surface of which might have been fifteen 
feet lower than the top of this valley on either side, 
and on it we could not stand two abreast. A rough 
notion of a section of this position may be gained from 
the letter W, depressing the centre angle, and imagin- 
ing that the cliff on which we were standing. The 
feet of our ladders were set firm on the neck of the 
cliff, and then it was allowed to lean over the crevice 
until its other end touched the wall, so to speak, of the 
valley. Its top round was, even then, seven or eight 
feet below where we wanted to get. One of the young 
guides went first with his axe, and contrived, by some 
extraordinary succession of gymnastic feats, to get 
safely to the top, although we all trembled for him — 
and, indeed, for ourselves; for, tied as we all were, 
and on such a treacherous standing, had he tumbled 



166 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

lie would have pulled the next after liim, and so on, 
one following the other, until we should all have gone 
hopelessly to perdition. Once safe, he soon helped his 
fellows, and, one after the other, we were drawn up, 
holding to the cord for our lives. The only accident 
that befell me on the journey here happened. Being 
pulled quickly up, my ungloved hand encountered a 
sharp bit of granite frozen on the ice, and this cut 
through the veins on my wrist. The wound bled fu- 
riously for a few minutes ; but the excitement of the 
scramble had been so great, that I actually did not 
know I was hurt until I saw the blood on the snow. 
I tied my handkerchief round the cut, and it troubled 
me no more ; but, from such hurried surgery, it has 
left a pretty palpable scar. 

Our porters would go no farther ; promises and 
bribes were now in vain ; and they gave up their lug- 
gage, and set off on their way back to Ohamouni. We 
now felt indeed, a folorn hope ; but fortunately we did 
not encounter anything worse than we had already 
surmounted ; and about four o'clock in the afternoon 
we got to the station at which we were to remain until 
midnight. 



CHAPTER XL 



THE NIGHT BIVOUAC IN THE SNOW. 

rjpHE Grands Mulets are two or tliree conical rocks 
which rise like island peaks from the snow and ice 
at the head of the Grlacier des Bossons, and were they 
loftier, would probably be termed aiguilles. They are 
visible to the naked eye from Chamouni, appearing 
like little cones on the mountain sides. Looking np 
to them, their left-hand face, or outer side, as I shall 
call it, goes down straight at once, some hundred feet, 
to the glacier. On the right-hand, and in front, you 
can scramble up to them pretty well, and gain your 
resting-place, which is about thirty feet from the sum- 
mit, either by climbing the rock from the base, which 
is very steep and fatiguing, or by proceeding farther 
up along the snow, and then returning a little way, 
when you find yourself nearly on a level with your 
shelf — ^for such it is. A familiar example of what 
I mean is given in a house built on a steep hill, where 
the back-door may be on the third story. 



168 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

The ascent of this rock was the hardest work we 
had yet experienced ; it was hke climbing up an im- 
mense number of flag-stones, of different heights, set 
on their edges. Before we got half way, we heard 
them firing guns at Chamouni, which showed us that 
we were being watched from the village; and this 
gave us fresh energy. At last we reached something 
like a platform, ten or twelve feet long, and three or 
four broad ; and below this was another tolerably level 
space, with a low parapet of loose stones built round 
it, whilst here and there were several nooks and cor- 
ners which might shelter people on emergency. We 
acknowledged the salute at Chamouni, by sticking one 
of our batons into a crevice, and tying a handkerchief 
to the top of it ; and then set to work to clear away 
the snow from our resting-place. Contrary to all my 
expectation, the heat we here experienced was most 
sultry, and even distressing. Those who have noted 
how long the granite posts and walls of the Italian 
cities retain the heat after the sun has gone down, will 
understand that this rock upon which we were was 
quite warm wherever the rays fell upon it, although 
in every nook of shade the snow still remained un- 
thawed. 

As soon as we had arranged our packs and bundles 
we began to change our clothes, which were tolerably 
well wet through with trudging and tumbling about 



The Night Bivouac in the Snow. 169 

among the snow ; and cutting a number of pegs, we 
strewed our garments about tlie crannies of tlie rocks 
to dxy. I put on two shirts, two pairs of lamb's wool 
socks, a thick pair of Scotch, plaid trowsers, a " Tem- 
plar" w^orsted headpiece, and a common blouse ; and 
my 'Companions were attired in a similar manner. 
There vv^as now great activity in the camp. Some of 
the guides ranged the wine bottles side by side in the 
snow ; others unpacked the refreshment knapsacks ; 
others again, made a rude fire-place, and filled a stew- 
pan with snow to melt. All this time it was so hot, 
and the sun Avas so bright, that I began to think the 
guide who told De Saussure he should take a para- 
sol up with him, did not deserve to have been laughed 
at. 

As soon as our wild bivouac assumed a little ap* 
pearance of order, two of the guides were sent up the 
glacier to go a, great way ahead, and then return and 
report upon the state of the snow on the plateaux. 
When they had started, we perched ourselves about 
on the comparatively level spaces of the rock, and with 
knife and fingers began our dinner. 

We had scarcely commenced when our party was 
joined by a young Irishman and a guide, who had 
taken advantage of the beaten track left behind us, 
and marched up on our traces with tolerable ease, 
leaving to us the honor (and the expense) of cutting 

8 



170 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

out tlie path. My younger friends with a little ebulli- 
tion of university feehng, proposed, under such cir- 
cumstances, that we should give him a reception in 
keeping with the glacier ; but I thought it would be 
so hyper-punctilious to show temper here, on the 
Grands Mulcts rocks, up and away in the regions of 
eternal snow, some thousand feet from the level world, 
that I ventured on a very mild hint to this effect, 
which was received with all the acquiescence and good 
temper imaginable. So we asked him to contribute 
his stores to our table, and, I dare say, should have 
got on very well together ; but the guides began to 
squabble about what they considered a breach of eti- 
quette, and presently, with his attendant, he moved 
away to the next rock. Afterwards another ''fol- 
lower" arrived with his guide, and he subsequently 
reached the summit. 

We kept high festival that afternoon on the Grands 
Mulcts. One stage of our journey — and that one by 
no means the easiest — ^had been achieved without the 
slightest hurt or harm. The consciousness of success 
thus far, the pure transparent air, the excitement at- 
tached to the very position in which we found our- 
selves, and the strange bewildering novelty of the sur- 
rounding scenery, produced a flowing exhilaration of 
spirits that I had never before experienced. The feel- 
ing was shared by all, and we laughed and sang, and 



The Night Bivouac in the Snow. 



171 



made the guides contribute whatever thej could to the 
general amusement, and told them such stories as 
would translate well in return ; until, I believe, that 
dinner will never be forgotten by them. A fine diver- 
sion was afforded by racing the empty bottles down 
the glacier. We flung them off from the rock as far 
as we were able, and then watched their course. When- 
ever they chanced to. point neck first down the slope, 
they started off with inconceivable velocity, leaping 
the crevices by their own impetus, until they were lost 
in the distance. The excitement of the guides during 
this amusement w^as very remarkable; a stand of 
betting men could not have betrayed more at the 
Derby. Their anxiety when one of the bottles ap- 
proached a crevice was intense ; and if the gulf was 
cleared, they perfectly screamed with delight, Void 
un hon coureurP'' or, Tiens ! comme il saute hien T 
burst from, them ; and Le grande s'arrete P'' Il est 
perdu — quel dommageP'' Non — il marche encore P'' 
could not have been uttered with more earnestness 
had they been watching a herd of chamois. 

It got somewhat chilly as the sun left the Mulcts, 
but never so cold as to be uncomfortable. With my 
back against the rock, and a common railway rug over 
my feet and legs, I needed nothing else. My knap- 
sack was handy at my elbow to lean upon — the same 
old companion that had often served for my pillow on 



172 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

the Mediterranean and the Nile ; and so I had alto- 
gether the finest conch upon which a weary traveller 
ever rested. 

I have as yet purposely abstained from describing 
the glorious view above, around and beneath us, for 
the details of our bivouac would have interrupted me 
as much as the arrangements actually did, until we 
got completely settled for the night — at least so much 
of it as we were to pass there. The Grrands Mulcts 
rocks are evidently the highest spines, so to speak, of 
a ridge of the mountain dividing the origin of the two 
glaciers of Bossons and Taconnay. They are chosen 
for a halting-place, not less from their convenient sta- 
tion on the route than from their situations out of the 
way of the avalanches. From the western face of the 
peak on which we were situated we could not see 
Chamouni, except by climbing up to the top of the 
rock — ^rather a hazardous thing to do — and peeping 
over it, when the whole extent of the valley could be 
very well made out ; the villages looking like atoms of 
white grit upon the chequered ground. Below us, and 
rising against our position, was the mighty field of the 
glacier — a huge prairie, if I may term it so, of snow 
and ice, with vast irregular undulations, which gradu- 
ally merged into an apparently smooth unbroken 
tract, as their distance increased. Towering in front 
of us, several thousand feet higher, and two or three 



The Night Bivouac in the Snow. 173 



miles away, yet still having the strange appearance of 
proximity that I have before alluded to, was the huge 
Dome du Groute — ^the mighty cupola usually mistaken 
by the valley travellers for the summit of Mont Blanc. 
Up the glacier^ on my left, was an enormous and 
ascending valley of ice, which might have been a couple 
of miles across ; and in its course were two or three 
steep banks of snow, hundreds of feet in height — giant 
steps by which the level landing-place of the Grand 
Plateau was to be reached. On the first and lowest of 
these, we could make out two dots, slowly toiling up 
the slope. They were the pioneers we had started 
from the Mulcts on arriving, and their progress thus 
far was considered a proof that the snow was in good 
order. Still farther up, above the level which marked 
the Grand Plateau, was the actual summit of Mont 
Blanc. As I looked at it, I thought that in two hours' 
good walking, along a route apparently as smooth as 
a race-course after a moderate fall of snow, it might be 
easily reached ; but immediately my eye returned to 
the two specks who had already taken up that time in 
painfully toiling to their present position. The next 
instant the attempt seemed hopeless even in a day. 
As it was now, with the last five hours' unceasing 
labor and continuous ascent, the lower parts of the 
glacier that we had traversed appeared close at hand ; 
but when I looked down to my right across the valley, 



174 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

and saw the Brevent — to get to the summit of which, 
from Chamouni, requires hours of toil ; when I saw 
this loftj wall of the valley gradually assuming the 
appearance of a mere ploughed ridge, I was again 
struck with the bewildering impossibility of bringing 
down anything in this "world of wonders"* to the 
ordinary rules or experience of proportions and dis- 
tance. 

The sun at length went down behind the Aiguille 
du Goute, and then, for two hours, a scene of such 
wild and wondrous beauty — of such inconceivable and 
unearthly splendor — ^burst upon me, that spell-bound 
and almost trembling with the emotion its magnifi- 
cence called forth — with every sense, and feeling, and 
thought absorbed by its brilliancy, I saw far more 
than the realization of the most gorgeous visions that 
opium or hasheesh could evoke, accomplished. At first 
everything about us, above, around, below — ^the sky, 
the mountain, and the lower peaks — appeared one uni- 
form creation of burnished gold, so brightly dazzhng, 
that, now our veils were removed, the eye could 
scarcely bear the splendor. As the twilight gradually 
crept over the lower world, the glow became still more 
vivid ; and presently, as the blue mists rose in the val- 

* " A world of wonders, where Creation seems 
No more the works of I^ature, but her Dreams." 

MONTGK)MEEY. 



The Night Bivouac in the Snow. 



175 



leys, tlie tops of the Mglier mountains looked like 
islands rising from a filmy ocean — an archipelago of 
gold. By degrees this metallic lustre was softened 
into tints, — first orange, and then bright, transparent 
crimson, along the horizon, rising through the different 
hues with prismatic regularity, until immediately above 
us, the sky was a deep, pure blue, merging towards 
the east into glowing violet. The snow took its color 
from these changes ; and every portion on which the 
light fell was soon tinged with a pale carmine, of a 
shade similar to that which snow at times assumes, 
from some imperfectly explained cause, at high eleva- 
tions — such, indeed, as I had seen, in early summer, 
upon the Furka and Faulhorn. These beautiful hues 
grew brighter as the twilight below increased in depth ; 
and it now came marching up the valley of the glaciers, 
until it reached our resting-place. Higher and higher 
still it drove the lovely glory of the sunlight before it, 
until at last the vast Dome du Groute and the summit 
itself stood out, ice-like and grim, in the cold evening 
air, although the horizon still gleamed with a belt of 
rosy light. 

Although this superb spectacle had faded away, the 
scene was still even more than striking. The fire 
which the guides had made, and which was now burn- 
ing and cracking on a ledge of rock a little below us, 
threw its flickering light, with admirable effect, upon 



176 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

our band. The men had collected round the blaze, and 
were making some chocolate, as they sang patois bal- 
lads and chornses ; they were all evidently as com- 
pletely at home as they would have been in their own 
chalets. We had arranged ourselves as conveniently 
as we could, so as not to inconvenience one another, and 
had still nothing more than an ordinary wrapper over 
us ; there had been no attempt to build the tent with 
batons and canvas, as I had read in some of the Mont 
Blanc narratives— the starry heaven vfas our only 
roofing. Mr. Floyd and Mr. Philips were already fast 
asleep. Mr. West was still awake, and I was too ex- 
cited even to close my eyes in the attempt to get a 
little repose. We talked for avAile, and then he also 
was silent. 

The stars had come out, and, looking over the 
plateau, I soon saw the moonlight lying cold and sil- 
very on the summit, stealing slowly down the very 
track by which the sunset glories had passed upward 
and away. But it came so tardily, that I knew it 
would be hours before we derived any actual benefit 
from the light. One after another the guides fell 
asleep, until only three or four remained round the 
embers of the fire, thoughtfully smoking their pipes. 
And then silence, impressive beyond expression, 
reigned over our isolated world. Often and often, 
from Chamouni, I had looked up at evening towards 



The Night Bivouac in the Snow 



177 



tlie darkening position of tlie Grands Mulest, and 
tlionglit, almost witt slinddering, how awful it must 
be for men to pass the night in such a remote, eternal, 
and frozen wilderness. And now I was Ijing there — 
in the very heart of its icebound and apalling solitude. 
In such close communion with nature in her grandest 
aspect, with no trace of the actual living world be- 
yond the mere speck that our little party formed, the 
mind was carried far away from its ordinary trains of 
thought — a solemn emotion of mingled awe and de- 
light, and yet self-perception of abject nothingness, 
alone arose above every other feeling. A vast un- 
trodden region of cold, and silence, and death stretch- 
ed out far and away from us on every side ; but, 
above. Heaven, with its countless Avatchful eyes, was 
over all ! 

8* 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE NIGHT-MARCH ON THE GRAND PLATEAU— THE 
MUR BE LA COTE — VICTORY ! 

JT was twenty minutes to twelve wlien the note of 
preparation for our second start was sounded. Tair- 
raz shook up the more drowsy of the guides, and .they 
were soon bustling about, and making their arrange- 
ments for the work before us. They had not much to 
carry now. Everything, with the exception of a few 
bottles of wine, some small loaves, and two or three 
cold fowls, was to be left on the Grands Mulcts ; there 
was no danger of theft from passers-by, as Carrier ob- 
served. This quarter of an hour before midnight was, 
I think, the heaviest during the journey. Now that 
we were going to leave our lodging, I did feel uncom- 
monly tired ; and wild and rugged as it was, I began 
to think the blankets and wrappers looked very com- 
fortable in the ruddy firelight, compared to the gloom- 
ing desert of ice before us. The moon was still low — > 
that is to say the light on the mountain had not come 



Night March on the Grand Plateau. 



179 



farther down than the top of tlie Aiguille du Goiite, 
so that we were in comparative darkness. Three or 
four lanterns were fitted up with candles ; and Jean 
Tairraz had a fine affair like a Chinese balloon, or more 
truly, the round lampions used in French illuminations, 
only larger ; and this he tied behind him, to light me 
as I followed. Michael Devouassoud took the lead ; 
we came after him with regular numbers of guides, 
each traveller having a lantern carried before him, and 
then another guide or two, lightly laden. In this order, 
in single file, we left the Grands Mulcts — not by the 
scrambling route of our arrival, but by the upper por- 
tion of the rocks, where we descended at once, in a 
few feet, to the snow. As we passed the upper Mu- 
lcts, we heard our Irish follower keeping it up" by 
himself in most convivial fashion, and singing " God 
save the Queen" to his guide. Soon afterwards, we 
saw his lantern glimmering on our traces; and the 
the light of the second aspirant was also visible, mov- 
ing about before his start. 

The snowy side of Mont Blanc, between the Grands 
Mulcts and the Kochers Eouges near the summit, is 
formed by three gigantic steps, if they may be so called, 
one above the other, each of which is many hundred 
feet high. Between each is a comparatively level plat- 
form of glacier; and the topmost of these, which is 
two or three miles across, is called the Grand Plateau. 



180 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Its position can be made out very well from Chamouni, 
with the naked eye. Up these slopes our road now 
lay ; and for more than two hours we foUovv^ed one an- 
other in silence — now trudging over the level places, 
and now slowly climbing, in zig-zag up the steeps. 
Yery little talking went on, for we knew that we should 
soon need all our breath. The walking here, however, 
was by no means difficult ; for the snow was hard and 
crisp, and we made very good progress, although for a 
long time we saw the red speck of fire, far below us, 
gleaming on the Grands Mulcts. The stars were out, 
and the air was sharp and cold, but only disagreeably 
biting when the slightest -puff of wind came. This 
was not very often, for we were sheltered on all sides 
by the heights and aiguilles around us. 

The march from the Mulcts to the foot of the Grand 
Plateau was the most unexciting part of the journey. 
It was one continuous, steadily ascending tramp of 
three hours and a half — now and then retracing our 
footmarks with a little grumbhng, when it was found, 
on gaining the neck of a ridge of snow, that there was 
an impracticable crevice on the other side ; but the 
general work was not more than that of ascending the 
Mer de Glace, on the route to the Jardin. Whenever 
we came to a stand-still, our feet directly got very 
cold ; and the remedy for this was to drive them well 
into the snow. The guides were anxious that we 



Night March on the Gtrand Plateau. 181 

should constantlj keep in motion ; and, indeed, they 
were never still themselves during these halts. 

We had nearly gained the edge of the Grand Pla- 
teau when our caravan was suddenly brought to a stop 
by the announcement from our leading guide of a 
huge crevice ahead, to which he could not see any 
termination ; and it was far too wide to cross by any 
means. It appeared that the guides had looked for- 
ward, all along, to some difficulty here — and they 
were now really anxious ; for Tairraz said, that if we 
could not reach the other side our game was up, and 
we must return. Auguste Devouassoud went ahead 
and called for a lantern. We had now only one left 
alight ; two had burnt out, and the other had been 
lost, shooting away like a meteor down the glacier 
until it disappeared in a gulf The remaining light 
was handed forward, and we watched its course with 
extreme anxiety, hovering along the edge of the abyss 
— anon disappearing and then showing again farther 
off — ^until at last Auguste shouted out that he had 
found a pass, and that we could proceed again. We 
toiled up a very steep cliff of ice, and then edged the 
crevice which yawned upon our left in a frightful man- 
ner, — more terrible in its semi-obscurity, than it is 
possible to convey an impression of — until the danger 
was over, and we all stood safely upon the Grand Pla- 
teau about half-past three in the morning. 



182 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

"We had now two or three miles of level walking 
before ns ; indeed our road, from one end of the pla- 
teau to the other, was on a slight descent. Before we 
started we took some wine ; our appetites were not 
very remarkable in spite of all our work ; but a 
leathern cup of St. George put a little life and warmth 
into us, for we were chilled with the delay, and it was 
now intensely cold. "We also saw the other lanterns 
approaching, and we now formed, as it were, one long 
caravan. Still in single file we set off again, and the 
effect of our silent march was now unearthly and 
solemn, to a degree that was almost painfully impress- 
ive. Mere atoms in this wilderness of perpetual frost, 
we were slowly advancing over the vast plain — slowly 
following each other on the track which the leading 
glimmering dot of light aided the guide to select. 
The reflected moonlight from the Dome du Goute, 
which looked like a huge mountain of frosted silver, 
threw a cold gleam over the plateau, suflB.cient to show 
its immense and ghastly space. High up on our right 
was the summit of Mont Blanc, apparently as close 
and inaccessible as ever ; and immediately on our left 
was the appalling gulf, yawning in the ice, of unknown 
depth, into which the avalanche swept Dr. Hamel's 
guides ; and in whose depths, ice-bound and un- 
changed, they are yet locked. Tairraz crept close to 
me, and said, through his teeth, almost in a whisper — 



Night March on the Grand Plateau. 183 



C'est ici, Monsieur, que mon fr^re Auguste est peri 
en 1820, avec Balmat et Carrier; les pauvres corps 
sont encore la-bas ! — ga me donne de peine, toujours, 
en traversant le Plateau ; et la route est encore pe- 
rilleuse." *^Et les avalanclies ?" I asked — ^^tombent- 
elles toujours?" *^Oui, Monsieur, toujours — nuit et 
jour. Le plutot passe, mieux pour nous !" 

In fact, thougli physically the easiest, this was the 
most treacherous part of the entire ascent. A flake 
of snow or a chip of ice, whirled by the wind from 
the summit, and increasing as it rolled down the top 
of the mountain, might at length thunder on to our 
path, and sweep everything before it into the crevice. 
Everybody was aware of this ; and for three-quarters 
of an hour we kept trudging hurriedly forward, 
scarcely daring to speak, and every now and then 
looking up with mistrust at the cahtte^ as the summit 
is termed, that rose above us in such cold and deceit- 
ful tranquillity. Once or twice in my life I have been 
placed in circumstances of the greatest peril, and I 
now experienced the same dead calm in which my 
feelings always were sunk on these occasions. I knew 
that every step we took was gained from the chance 
of a horrible death; and yet the only thing that 
actually distressed me was, that the two front lanterns 
would not keep the same distance from one another — 
a matter of the most utter unimportance to everybody. 



184 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

At last we got under the shelter of the Rochers 
Eouges, and then Ave were in comparative safet}" ; 
since, were an avalanche to fall, thej would turn its 
course on to the plateau we had just quitted. A small 
council was assembled there. The Irishman, who had 
got a little ahead of us, was compelled to give in — he 
was done up and could go no farther. Indeed, it would 
have been madness to have attempted it, for we found 
him lying on the snow, vomiting frightfully, with con- 
siderable haemorrhage from the nose. I think this 
must have been about the same elevation at which 
young Mr. Talfourd was compelled to give in, in 1843. 
I told our poor companion that he must not think the 
worse of us for leaving him there, with his guide, as, 
unfortunately, we could do nothing for him ; but I re- 
commended him to go back as speedily as he could 
to the Grrands Mulcts, where he would find every- 
thing that he might require. He took this advice, 
and, indeed, we found him still at the rock, on our 
return. 

As we reached the almost perpendicular wall of ice 
below the Eochers Rouges, we came into the full 
moonlight ; and, at the same time, far away on the 
horizon, the red glow of daybreak was gradually ting- 
ing the sky ; and bringing the higher and more distant 
mountains into relief The union of these two effects 
of light was very strange. At first, simply cold and 



Night March on the Grand Plateau. 



185 



bewildering, it had nothing of the sunset glories of 
the Grands Mulets ; but after a time, when peak after 
peak rose out from the gloomy world below, the spec- 
tacle was magnificent. In the dark, boundless space, 
a small speck of light would suddenly appear, growing 
larger and larger, until it took the palpable form of a 
mountain-top. Whilst this was going on, other points 
would brighten, here and there, and increase in the 
same manner ; then a silvery gleam would mark the 
position of a lake reflecting the sky^ — ^it v/as that of 
Geneva — until the gray, hazy ocean lighted up into 
hills, and valleys, and irregularities, and the entire 
world below warmed into the glow of sunrise. We 
were yet in gloom, shadowed by the Aiguille Sans 
Nom, with the summit of Mont Blanc shut out from 
us by the Eochers Eouges ; but, of course, it must 
have been the earliest to catch the rays. 

It was now fearfully cold ; and every now and then 
a sharp north-east wind nearly cut us into pieces, 
bringing with it a storm of spiculse of ice, which were 
really very painful as they blew against and passed our 
faces and ears ; so we took to our veils again, which all 
night long had been twisted round our hats. I felt 
very chilled and disjointed. I had now passed two 
nights without sleep ; and I had really eaten nothing 
since the yesterday's morning but part of an egg, a 
piece of fowl, and a little bit of bread — ^for my illness 



186 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

had taken away all my appetite ; and on this small 
diet. I had been undergoing the greatest work. But 
none of us were complaining of nausea, or diflS.culty 
of breathing, or blood to the head, or any of the other 
symptoms which appear to have attacked most persons 
even on the Grrand Plateau ; so I plucked up fresh 
courage, and prepared for our next achievement. 

This was no light affair. From the foot of the 
Eochers Eouges there runs a huge and slanting but- 
tress of ice, round which we had to climb from the 
north-east to the east. Its surface was at an angle of 
about sixty degrees. Above us, it terminated in a 
mighty cliff, entirely covered with icicles of marvel- 
lous length and beauty ; below, it was impossible to 
see where it went, for it finished suddenly in an edge, 
which was believed to be the border of a great crevice. 
Along this we now had to go; and the journey was 
as hazardous a one as a man might make along a barn 
top with frozen snow on it. Jean Carrier went first, 
with his axe, and very cautiously cut every step in 
which we were to place our feet in the ice. It is diflS.- 
cult at times to walk along ice on a level ; but when 
that ice is tilted up more than halfway towards the per- 
pendicular, with a fathomless termination below, and 
no more foot and hand hold afforded than can be 
chipped out, it becomes a nervous affair enough. The 
cords came into requisition again ; and we went along, 



Night March on the Grand Plateau. 



187 



leaning very mucli over to our right, and, I must say, 
paying little attention to our guides, who were contin- 
ually pointing out spots for us to admire — the Jardin, 
Monte Eosa, and the Col du Geant — as they became 
visible. It took us nearly half an hour to creep round 
this hazardous slope, and then we came once more 
upon a vast undulating field of ice, looking straight 
down the Glacier du Tacul, towards the upper part of 
the Mer du Glace — ^the reverse of the view the visitor 
enjoys from the Jardin. 

My eyelids had felt very heavy for the last hour ; 
and, but for the absolute mortal necessity of keeping 
them widely open, I believe would have closed before 
this ; but now such a strange and irrepressible desire 
to go to sleep seized hold of me that I almost fell fast 
off as I sat down for a few minutes on the snow to tie 
my shoes. But the foremost guides were on the march 
again, and I was compelled to go on with the caravan. 
From this point on to the summit, for a space of two 
hours, I was in such a strange state of mingled uncon- 
sciousness and acute observation — of combined sleep- 
ing and waking — ^that the old-fashioned word ^' be- 
witched," is the only one that I can apply to the com- 
plete confusion and upsetting of sense in which I found 
myself plunged. With the perfect knowledge of wliere 
I was, and what I was about — even with such caution 
as was required to place my feet on particular places 



188 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

in the snow — I conjured up sucli a set of absurd and 
improbable phantoms about me, that the most spirit- 
ridden intruder upon a Mayday festival on the Hartz 
mountains was never more beleagured. I am not 
sufficiently versed in the finer theories of the psychol- 
ogy of sleep to know if such a state might be ; but I 
beheve for the greater part of this bewildering period 
I was fast asleep, with my eyes open, and through 
them the wandering brain received external impress- 
ions ; in the same manner as, upon waking, the 
phantoms of our dreams are sometimes carried on, 
and connected with objects about the chamber. It is 
very difficult to explain the odd state in which I was, 
so to speak, entangled. A great many people I knew 
in London were accompanying me, and calling after 
me, as the stones did after Prince Pervis, in the Ara- 
bian Nights, Then there was some terribly elaborate 
affair that I could not settle, about two bedsteads, the 
whole blame of which transaction, whatever it was, 
lay on my shoulders ; and then a literary friend came 
up, and told me he was sorry we could not pass over 
his ground on our way to the summit, but that the 
King of Prussia had forbidden it. Everything was 
as foolish and unconnected as this, but it worried me 
painfully ; and my senses were under such little con- 
trol, and I reeled and staggered about so, that when Ave 
had crossed the snow prairie, and arrived at the foot 



The Mur be la Cote. 



189 



of an almost perpendicular wall of ice, four or five 
hundred feet high — ^the terrible Mur de la Cote^ — ^up 
which we had to climbj I sat down again on the snow, 
and told Tairraz that I would not go any farther, but 
that they might leave me there if they pleased. 

The Mont Blanc guides are used to these little vari- 
eties of temper, above the Grrand Plateau. In spite 
of my mad determination to go to sleep, Balmat and 
another set me up on my legs again, and told me that 
if I did not exercise every caution, we should all be 
lost together, for the most really dangerous part of the 
whole ascent had arrived. I had the greatest difficulty 
in getting my wandering wits into order ; but the risk 
called for the strongest mental effort ; and, with just 
sense enough to see that our success in scaling this 
awful precipice was entirely dependent upon ^^pluok,^^ 
I got ready for the climb. I have said the Mur de la 
Cote is some hundred feet high, and is an all but per- 
pendicular iceberg. At one point you can reach it from 
the snow, but immediately after you begin to ascend 
it, obliquely, there is nothing below but a chasm in 
the ice more frightful than anything yet passed. 
Should the foot slip/ or the baton give way, there is no 
chance for life — ^you would glide like lightning from 
one frozen crag to another, and finally be dashed to 
pieces, hundreds and hundreds of feet below in the 
horrible depths of the glacier. Were it in the valley, 



190 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

simply rising up from a glacier a morine^ its ascent 
would require great nerve and caution; but here, 
placed fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
terminating in an icy abyss so deep that the bottom is 
lost in obscurity ; exposed in a highly rarefied atmos- 
phere, to a wind cold and violent beyond all concep- 
tion ; assailed, with muscular powers already taxed far 
beyond their strength, and nerves shaken by con- 
stantly increasing excitement and want of rest — with 
bloodshot eyes, and raging thirst, and a pulse leaping 
rather than beating — with all this, it may be imagined 
that the frightful Mur de la Cote calls for more than 
ordinary determination to mount it. 

Of course every footstep had to be cut with the adzes ; 
and my blood ran colder still as I saw the first guides 
creeping like flies upon its smooth glistening surface. 
The two Tairraz were in front of me, with the fore 
part of the rope, and Frangois Favret I think, behind. 
I scarcely know what our relative positions were, for 
we had not spoken much to one another for the last 
hour; every word was an exertion, and our atten- 
tion was solely confined to our own progress. In spite 
of all my exertions, my confusion of ideas and extra- 
ordinary drowsiness increased to such a painful degree, 
that, chnging to the hand-holes made in the ice, and 
surrounded by all this horror, I do believe, if we had 
halted on our climb for half a minute, I should have 



The Victory. 



191 



gone off asleep. But tliere was no pause. "We kept 
progressing, very slowly indeed, but still going on — 
and up so steep a path, that I had to v/ait until the 
guide before me removed his foot, before I could put 
my hand into the notch. I looked down below two 
or three times, but was not at all giddy, although the 
depth lost itself in the blue haze. 

For upwards of half an hour we kept on slowly 
mounting this iceberg, until we reached the foot of the 
last ascent — the calotte^ as it is called — the cap" of 
Mont Blanc. The danger was now over, but not the 
labor, for this dome of ice was difficult to mount. The 
axe was again in requisition ; and everybody was so 
" blown," in common parlance, that we had to stop 
every three or four minutes. My young companions 
kept bravely on, like fine fellows as they were, getting 
ahead, even of some of the guides ; but I was perfectly 
done up. Honest Tairraz had no sinecure to pull me 
after him, for I was tumbling about, as though com- 
pletely intoxicated. I could not keep my eyes open, 
and planted my feet anywhere but in the right place. 
I know I was exceedingly cross. I have even a recol- 
lection of having scolded my team," because they 
did not go quicker ; and I was excessively indignant 
when one of them dared to call my attention to Monte 
Eosa. At last, one or two went in front, and thus 
somewhat quickened our progress. Gradually our 



i92 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

speed increased, until I was scrambling almost on my 
hands and knees ; and then, as Lfound myself on a level, 
it suddenly stopped, I looked round, and I saw there 
was nothing higher. The batons were stuck in the 
snow, and the guides were grouped about, some lying- 
down, and others standing in httle parties. I vv^as on 
the top of Mont Blanc ! 

The ardent wish of years was gratified ; but I Y\^as 
so completelj^ exhausted, that, without looking round 
me, I fell down upon the snow, and was asleep in an 
instant. I never knew the charm before of that mys- 
terious and brief repose, which ancient people term 
forty winks," Six or seven minutes of dead slum- 
ber was enough to restore the balance of my ideas ; 
and when Tairraz awoke me^ I was once more per- 
fectly myself. And now I entered into the full de- 
light that the consciousness of our success brought 
with it. It was a little time before I could look at 
anything steadily. I wanted the whole panorama 
condensed into one point ; for, gazing at Geneva and 
the Jura, I thought of the plains of Lombardy behind 
me ; and turning round towards them, my eye imme- 
diately wandered away to the Oberland, with its hun- 
dred peaks glittering in the bright morning sun. 
There was too much to see, and yet not enough ; I 
mean, the view was so vast that, whilst every point 
and valley was a matter of interest, and eagerly 



The Victory. 193 

scanned^ yet the elevation was so great that all detail 
was lost. What I did observe I will endeavor to ren- 
der account of— not as a tourist might do, who plant- 
ing himself in imagination on the Mont Blanc of 
Keller's map or Mr, Auldjo's plan, puts down all the 
points that he considers might be visible, but just as 
they struck me with an a^verage traveller's notion of 
Switzerland. . ■ 

In the first place it must be understood, as I have 
just intimated, that the height greatly takes away 
from the interest of the view, which its expanse 
scarcelj^ makes amends for. As a splendid panorama, 
the sight from the Eigi Kulm is more attractive. The 
chequered fields, the little steamer plying from Lu- 
cerne to Fluelyn, the tiny omnibuses on the lake-side 
road to Art^ the desolation of Goldau, and the section 
of the fatal Eossberg, are all subjects of interest and 
much admiration^ But the Eigi is six thousand feet 
above the sea level, and Mont Blanc is over fifteen 
thousand. The little clustered village, seen from the 
Kulm, becomes a mere white speck from the crown of 
the monarch. 

The morning was most lovely ; there was not even 
a wreath of mist coming up from the valley. One of 
our guides had been up nine times, and he said he 
had never seen such weather. But with this extreme 
clearness of atmosphere there was a filmy look about 

9 



194 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

the peaks, merging into a perfect haze of distance in 
the valleys. All the great points in the neighborhood 
of Chamonni-— the Buet, the Aiguille Verte, the Col 
dn Bonhomme, and even the Bernese Alps — were 
standing forth clear enough ; but the other second-class 
mountains were mere ridges. It was some time before 
I could find out the Brevent at all, and many of the 
Aiguilles were sunk and merged into the landscape^ 
There was a strange feeling in looking down upon the 
summits of these mountains, which I had been accus- 
tomed to know only as so many giants of the horizon. 
The other hills had sunk into perfect insignificance, 
or rather looked pretty much the same as they do in 
the rehef models at the map shops. The entire length 
of the Lake of Geneva, with the Jura beyond, was 
very clearly defined ; and beyond these again were the 
faint blue hills of Burgundy. Turning round to the 
south-east, I looked down on the Jardin, along the 
same glacier by which the visitor to the Couvercle lets 
his eye travel to the summit of Mont Blanc. Eight 
away over the Col du G^ant we saw the plains of Lom- 
bardy very clearly, and one of the guides insisted 
upon pointing out Milan ; but I could not acknowledge 
it. I was altogether more interested in finding out 
the peaks and gorges comparatively near the moun- 
tain, than straining my eyes after remote matters of 
doubt. Of the entire coup d'oeil no descriptive power 



The Yictory. 



195 



can convey tlie slightest notion. Botli Mont Blanc 
and the pyramids, viewed from below, liave never been 
clearly pictured, from tbe utter absence of anything 
by whieh. proportion could be fixed. From the same 
cause, it is next to impossible to describe the appar- 
ently boundless undulating expanse of jagged snow- 
topped peaks, that stretched away as far as the horizon 
on all sides beneath us. Where everything is so al- 
most incomprehensible in its magnitude^ no sufficiently 
graphic comparison can be instituted. 

The first curiosity satisfied, we produced our stores, 
and collected together on the hard snow to discuss 
them. We had some wine, and a cold fowl or two, a 
small quantity of bread and cheese, some chocolate 
in batons^ and -a bag of prunes, which latter proved of 
great ser^dce in the ascent One of these rolled about 
in the mouth without being eaten, served to dispel the 
dryness of the throat and palate, otherwise so distress- 

The rarefaction of the air was nov/" nothing to what I 
had anticipated. We had heard legends, down at Cha- 
mouni, of the impossibility of lighting pipes at this 
height ; but now all the guides were smoking most 
comfortably. Our faces had an odd dark appearance, 
the result of congestion, and almost approaching the 
tint I had noticed in persons attacked by Asiatic 
cholera; but this was not accompanied by any sensa- 



196 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

lion of fulness, or even inconvenience. The onl}^ 
thing that distressed me was the entire loss of feeling 
in my right handy on which I had not been able to 
wear one of the for gloves, from the bad grasp it al- 
lowed to my pole. Accordingly, it was frost-bitten. 
The guides evidently looked upon this as a more 
serious matter than I did myself, and for five minutes 
I underwent a series of rather severe operations of 
very violent friction. After awhile the numbness 
partially went away ; but even as I now write, my Ht- 
tle finger is without sensation, and on the approach of 
cold, it becomes very painful. However^ all this was 
nothing ; Vv^e had succeeded, and were sitting all to- 
gether, without hm't or harm, on the summit of Mont 
Blanc. We did not feel much inclined to eat, but our 
vin ordinaire was perfect nectar ; and the bottle of 
champagne brought up on purpose to be drunk on the 
summit was considered a finer wine than had ever 
been met with. We all shook each other by the hand, 
and laughed at such small pleasantries so heartily, that 
it was quite diverting; and a rapid programme of 
toasts went round, of which the most warmly drank 
was " Her," according to each of our separate opinions 
on that point. We made no " scientific observations," 
— ^the acute and honest De Saussure had done every- 
thing that was wanted by the world of that kind ; and 
those who have shice worried themselves during the 



The Victory 



197 



ascent about '^elevations" and temperatures, have 
added nothing to what he told us sixty * years ago. 
But we had beheld all the wonders and horrors of the 
glacier w^orld in their wildest features ; we had gazed 
on scenery of such fantastic yet magnificent nature as 
we might not hope to see again ; we had labored with 
all the nerve and energy v^e could command to achieve 
a work of downright unceasing danger and difficulty, 
which not more than one-half of those who try are 
able to accomplish, and the triumph of which is, even 
now, shared but by a comparative handful of travel- 
lers — and we had succeeded ! 



CHAPTER XIIL 



COMING DOWN. 



LTHOTJGrH the cold was by no means severe when 



the air was still, yet, as I have before stated, the 
lightest puff of wind appeared to freeze ns ; and we 
saw the guides getting their packs ready — they were 
very light now- — and preparing to descend. Accord- 
ingly, we left the summit at half-past nine, having been 
there exactly half an hour. "We learned afterwards 
that we had been seen from Chamouni by telescopes, 
and that the people there had fired cannon when they 
perceived us on the summit; but these we did not 
hear. We were about three hours and a half getting 
back to the Grrands Mulcts ; and, with the exception 
of the Mur de la Cote (which required the same caution 
as in coming up), the descent was a matter of great 
amusement. Sliding, tumbling, and staggering about, 
setting all the zig-zags at defiance, and making direct 
short cuts from one to the other — sitting down at the 
top of the snow slopes, and launching ourselves off, 




Coming Down, 



199 



feet first, until, not very clever at self-guidance, we 
turned riglit round and were stopped by our own 
heads ; all tHs was capital fun. The guides managed 
to slide down very cleverly, keeping their feet. They 
leant rather back, steadying themselves with their 
poles, which also acted as a drag, by being pressed 
deeply into the snow when they wished to stop, and 
so scudded down like the bottles from the G-rands Mu- 
lcts. I tried this plan once, but before I had gone a 
dozen yards, I went head-over-heels, and nearly lost 
my baton ; so that I preferred the more ignoble but 
equally exciting mode of transit first alluded to. 

Although our return to the Mulcts was accomplished 
in about half the time of the ascent, yet I was aston- 
ished at che distance we had tra^versed, now that my 
attention was not so much taken away by the novelty 
of the scenery and situations. There appeared to be 
no end to the montets which divide the plateaux ; and, 
after a time, as we descended, the progress became very 
troublesome, for the snow was beginning to thaw in the 
sun, and we went up to our knees at every step. We 
were now not together — ^little parties of three or four 
dotting the glacier above and in front of us. Every- 
body chose his own route, and glissaded, or skated, 
or rolled down, according to his own fanc}^ The sun 
was very bright and warm — we were all very cheerful 
and merry; and although I had not had any sleep for 



200 The Story of 3Iont Blanc. 

two nights^ I contrived to keep np tolerably well with 
the foremost. 

At one o'clock in the afternoon we got back to our 
old bivouac on tlie Grands Mulets. We had intended 
to have remained here some little time, but the heat 
on the rock was so stifling that we could scarcely sup- 
port it ; and Tairraz announced that the glacier was 
becoming so dangerous to tjraversej from the melting 
of the snoWj that even now it would be a matter of ♦ 
some risk to cross it. So we hastily finished our scraps 
of refi^eshment, and drank our last bottle of wine — out 
of a stewpan, by the way, for we had lost our leathern 
cups in our evolutions on the ice — and then, making 
up our packs, bade good-bye to the G-rands Mulets, 
most probably forever. 

In five minutes we found that, after all, the greatest 
danger of the undertaking was to come. The whole 
surface of the Grlacier des Bossons had melted into 
perfect sludge ; the ice-cliffs were dripping in the sun, 
like the well at Knaresborough : every minute the 
bridges over the crevices were falling in : and we sank 
almost to our waists in the thawing snoAV at every step 
we took. I could see that the guides v/ere uneasy. 
All the ropes came out again, and we were tied to- 
gether in parties of three, about ten feet distant from 
one another. And now all the work of yesterday had 
to be gone over again, with much more danger attnciTcd 



Coming Down. 



201 



to it. From the state of tlie snow, tlie guides avowed 
that it was impossible to tell whether we should find 
firm standing on any arch we arrived at, or go through 
it at once into some JErightful chasm. They sounded 
every bridge we came to with their poles, and a shake 
of the head was always a signal for a detour. One or 
two of the tracks by which we had marched u.p yes- 
terday had now disappeared altogether, and fresh ones 
* had to be cautiously selected. We had one tolerably 
narrow escape. Tairraz, who preceded me, had jumped 
over a crevice, and upon the other side alighted upon a 
mere bracket of snow, which directly gave way be- 
neath him. With the squirrel-like rapid activity of the 
Chamouni guides, he whirled his baton round so as to 
cross the crevice, which was not very broad but of un- 
known depth, transverely. This saved him, but the 
shock pulled me off my legs. Had he fallen, I must 
have followed him — since we were tied together — and 
the guide would have been dragged after me. I was 
more startled by this little accident than by any other 
occurrence during the journey. 

At length, after much anxiety, we came to the mo- 
raine of the glacier, and I was not sorry to find myself 
standing upon a block of hard granite, for I honestly 
believe that our lives had not been worth a penny's 
purchase ever since we left the Grands Mulets. We 
had a long rest at the Pierre a TEchelle, wliere we de- 



202 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

posited our ladder for tlie next aspirants, and, in the 
absence of everything else, were content with a little 
water for refreshment. The cords were now untied, 
and we went on as we pleased ; but I ordered Jean 
Carrier to go ahead, and tell his pretty Julie at the Pa- 
vilion des Pelerins that we should make all the party 
drink her health there — a promise I had given a day 
or two previously- — and he started off like a chamois. 
Jean Tairraz was sent forward to bespeak some milk 
for us at the Chalet de la Para, and then we took our 
time ; and, once more upon solid trustworthy ground, 
began the last descent. Some mules were waiting at 
the Chalet, but the road was so exceedingly steep and 
tortuous, that I preferred my own legs ; and by five 
o'clock, we had come down the pine wood, and found 
ourselves at the little cabin, with Julie, all brightness 
and blusheS; busying about to receive us. She gave 
me a cornelian heart, and said something laughingly 
about '^une alliance^'' But Julie has since married, so 
the alliance is broken. 

Several ladies and gentlemen had come thus far to 
meet us ; and, what with the friends and families of 
the guides, we now formed a very large party indeed. 
It was here humbly suggested that we should mount 
our mules, to render our entry into Chamouni as im- 
posing as possible ; so after the men had drunk with 
thSir friends, and with one another, and indeed with 



CoMiNo Down. 203 

everybody, we formed into our order of march, across 
tlie fields between tbe two villages. First went the two 
Tairraz, Balmat and Carrier, with their ice-axes, as the 
chiefs of the party, and specially attached to us ; then 
we came on onr mnles ; after ns walked the body of 
the guides, with such of their families as had come to 
meet them, and little boys and girls, so proud to carry 
their batons and appear to belong to the procession ; 
and, finally, the porters and volunteers with the knap- 
sacks brought up the rear. And so we went merrily 
through the fields that border the Arve, in the bright 
afternoon sunlight, receiving little bouquets from the 
girls on the way, and meeting fresh, visitors from Cha- 
mouni every minute. 

We had heard the guns firing at Chamouni ever 
since we left the Pelerins ; but as we entered the vil- 
lage we were greeted with a tremendous round of Al- 
pine artillery from the roof the new Hotel Eoyal, and 
the garden and courtyard of the Hotel de Londres. 
The whole population was in the streets, and on the 
bridge ; the ladies at the hotels waving their handker- 
chiefs, and tbe men cheering ; and a harpist and a vio- 
lin-player now joined the cortege. When we got into 
the court-yard of our hotel, M. Bdouard Tairraz had 
dressed a little table with some beautiful bouquets and 
wax candles, until it looked uncommonly like an altar, 
but for the half-dozen of champagne that formed a 



204 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

portion of its ornaments ; and here we were invited to 
drink with hiio^j and be gazed at, and have our hands 
shaken by everybody. One or two enthusiastic tour- 
ists expected me there and then to tell them all about 
it ; but the crowd was now so great, and the guns so 
noisy, and the heat and dust so oppressive, coupled 
with the state of excitement in which we all were, that 
I was not sorry to get away and hide in a comfortable 
warm bath which our worthy host had prepared al- 
ready. This, with an entire change of clothes, and a 
quiet comfortable dinner, put me all right again ; and 
at night, when I was standing in the balcony of my 
chamber window, looking at the twinkling pine illu- 
minations on the bridge, and watching the last glow 
of sunset once more disappear from the summit of the 
gTand old mountain king, I could hardly persuade my- 
self that the whole affair had not been a wonderful 
dream. 

I did not sleep very well when I went to bed. I 
was tumbling down precipices all night long, and so 
feverish, that I drank off the entire contents of a large 
water-jug before morning. My face, in addition, gave 
me some pain, where the sun had caught it, otherwise I 
was perfectly well — sufGLciently so, indeed, to get up 
tolerably early the next day, and accompany a friend 
on foot to Montanvert. In the evening we gave the 
guides a supper in the hotel garden. I had the honor 



Coming Down. 



205 



of presiding ; and what with toasts, and speeches, and 
songs — excellent fare, and a warm-hearted company — 
the moon was once more on the summit of Mont Blanc 
before we parted. I know it will be some time before 
the remembrance of that happy evening passes away 
from those between whom and ourselves such an 
honest friendship had grown up as only fellow-laboring 
in difficulty and danger can establish. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

CO^^CLUDING EEMAEKS. 

npHE undertaking so long anticipated, is all over, and 
I am sitting in a little top-bedroom of the Cou- 
ronne at Geneva, into which my good friend, Madame 
Berseth, has been obliged to thrust me, and settling 
the expenses with Jean Tairraz. The sunset, the gla- 
ciers, and the Mur de la Cote, have come down to a 
matter of " little bills." He first gives me the hotel 
account after the ascent. It is as follows : — 

]SroTE Xo. 2. 

Fmncs. Cents. 

103 bottles lost ... 50 

18 breakfasts to guides . . 22 50 

18 suppers to do. . . 36 

6 bottles London porter . .18 

126 50 

So it will be seen our racing with the bottles was not 
without some of the expense attached to that sport in 
general. But it was better to throw them away than 



Concluding Remarks. 



207 



to fatigue the men with, the thankless task of carrying 
them down again. They were charged at a high rate, 
as everything else is at Chamouni ; because, it must 
be remembered, in such a wild secluded place the 
transport becomes very expensive. 
I next receive his own account: — 



Note iN'o. 3, 

Francs. Cents. 



16 guides .... 


1600 




18 porters .... 


108 




8 mules .... 


18 




The bov 


4 




1 lantern broken , 


1 


75 


Milk at the Chalet . 


1 


50 


Extra pay to porters 


5 




Expenses due to Julie at the Pavil 






Ion des Pelerins 


16 




iTails for shoes 


2 






1756 


25 


Adding these together, we make- 








Francs. 


Centa, 


Provisions for ascent 


456 




Subsequent expenses 


126 


50 


Tairraz' guides' accounts . 


1756 


25 



Total . . . 2338 75 



This divided by four — the number of tourists — 
gives about 584 francs each. Had I gone up alone, 
of course the expense would have been greater. 



208 The Story of Mont Blanc. 

Not without vivid recollections of a deliglitful and 
wondrous journey, thus safely and happily accom- 
plished, and of the excellent humor and courteous at- 
tention of my companions — with a recommendation 
to all whose time and constitution will permit, to 
make the same excursion, is this plain narrative con- 
cluded. 



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